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J 


BRIEE BIOGRAPHIES 



EMBRACING AN AUTHENTIC 

ACCOUNT OF THE LIVES AND TIMES OF OUR PRESIDENTS 
FROM THE ANCESTRY OF WASHINGTON TO 

CLEv eland’s ADMINISTRATION. 


I i 6 


B 


REED BEARD 


A Graduate of 1 17 0 i a i? a Institute for t ^ e B I i q 



/ 


LAFAYETTE, IN D . 

SPRING, F: M ERSON & CO., PRINTERS. 

i 8S6. 










ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS IN THE YEAR 1886, 

By REED BEARD, 

IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS AT WASHINGTON. 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



CATION. 


So tlpose 

Wlpo ^aVe reybereb npe 
Valuable assistance lip tlpe preparation 
an^ publication of tlje following pages, tinis Volunpe 
is respectfully DeSicateS, by 
tl^e Author, 





3 

IVES of great men all remind us 
We may make our lives sublime, 
And, departing, leave behind us 

Footprints on the sands of time. 


— Longfellow. 


AGfi. 


The object of the author in the preparation of 
this work has been to compress the vast amount 
of useful information contained in the history of 
American Presidents, to the narrow compass of a 
single volume, thereby placing it within reach 
of the time and money of all. 

The first object of history is to tell the truth. 
Throughout the following work, accuracy of 
statement has been regarded as preferable to 
rhetorical display. 

No claim is made to absolute originality of 
research, but the author is indebted to the works 
of more than a score of standard biographers and 
historians. It is hoped that our efforts may incite 
the reader to a study of the more comprehensive 
volumes, and remind him that the biography of a 
man is a better and more enduring monument to 
his memory than the massive and elaborate 
columns of marble or stone. 



PREFACE. 


The lives of our Presidents embrace such ex¬ 
amples of intellectual and moral character as 
justifies the proudest claim upon genuine nobility. 
No other nation has been governed by a series of 
twenty-two rulers of equal excellence and admin¬ 
istrative ability. The study of such characters 
certainly ennobles the aspirations of every true 
American. 

If the perusal of this volume awakens or 
strengthens the spirit of the youth in the emula¬ 
tion of the goodness and greatness of the illustrious 
subjects of which it treats, or, in the aged a desire 
to glorify their names and deeds, the time in 
acquiring the fund of information necessary to 
the composition of such a work will not be 
considered as idly spent. R. B. 


TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER. 


I. 

George Washington 

II. 

John Adams . 

III. 

Thomas Jefferson 

IV. 

James Madison . . 

V. 

James Monroe 

VI. 

John Quincy Adams 

VII. 

Andrew Jackson . . . 

VIII. 

Martin Van Buren 

IX. 

William Henry Harrison 

X. 

John Tyler. 

XI. 

James K. Polk 

XII. 

Zachary Taylor . . . 

XIII. 

Millard Fillmore . 

XIV. 

Franklin Pierce 

XV. 

James Buchanan . 

XVI. 

Abraham Lincoln 

XVII. 

Andrew Johnson . 

XVIII. 

Ulysses S. Grant . 

XIX. 

Rutherford B. Hayes 

XX. 

James A. Garfield . . 

XXI. 

Chester A. Arthur . 

XXII. 

Grover Cleveland 


PAGE. 

9 

. 72 

102 

• H3 
162 
182 

. 207 

. 231 

242 
. 256 

. 265 

. 279 

292 

• 3 01 

• 3 12 

• 3 2 3 

• 3 6 9 

• 378 

• 4 °S 

• 4 X 5 

• ' 438 

• 447 








BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES 


OF 

AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Chapter I. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

)j[(OHN Washington, the great-grandfather 
°f that immortal being known to us as 
(2^ the “Father of His Country/’ and his 
brother, Andrew Washington, came from Eng¬ 
land to Virginia in the year 1657. 

These ancestors of George Washington had 
been loyal to Charles I. during the great Rebel¬ 
lion, and now after his death and the establish¬ 
ment of the Commonwealth, they sought refuge 
in Virginia; there to find new homes and rebuild 
the fortunes they had lost during the long diffi¬ 
culties in the mother country; there they took up 
the estate upon which the subject of this sketch 
was born. 


2 



IO 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


The family of Washington had held a most 
honorable position in England for hundreds of 
years. During the great Rebellion, Lieutenant 
Colonel James Washington laid down his life at 
the siege of Pontefract Castle. 

Colonel Sir Henry Washington, a nephew of 
George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, was one of 
Prince Rupert’s bravest officers, and distinguished 
himself at Bristol by great courage and bravery; 
also, at Worcester, which place he held against 
a much larger force than his own, and held it 
after his ammunition was entirely exhausted; un¬ 
til the King ordered its surrender with all other 
towns. When Fairfax demanded its surrender, 
his reply fully demonstrated the type of charac¬ 
ter he possessed, as he said: 

“Sir:—It is acknowledged in your own books, 
and by report of your own quarter, that the King 
is in some of your armies. That granted, it may 
be easy for you to obtain his Majesty’s command 
for the disposal of the garrison, till then, I shall 
make good the trust reposed in me. As for con¬ 
ditions, if I shall be necessitated, I will make the 
best I can. The worst I know and fear not; 
otherwise, the profession of a soldier had not 
been begun, or so long continued, by your Excel¬ 
lency’s humble Servant, 

Henry Washington.” 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 11 

We trace the lineage of this renowned name 
along the stream of time just one hundred years 
and we find another Fairfax, another Washing¬ 
ton, related to the soldier and officer, living neigh¬ 
bors in Virginia. And this Washington married 
his neighbor’s daughter. Thomas, Lord Fairfax, 
was the early and constant friend of George 
Washington, the greatest and the noblest of his 
race. After the death of Charles I. the Royal¬ 
ists refused to acknowledge the Commonwealth. 
In 1651, Cromwell sent a fleet to force them to 
obedience, but the Colonists, led by their gov¬ 
ernor, Sir William Berkley, would not be reduced; 
finally, a compromise was effected by which the 
Colonists’ submission to the Commonwealth was 
to be construed as u a voluntary act ,” and also 
the people of Virginia should have all the liber¬ 
ties of free-born Englishmen; should entrust their 
business to their own Grand Assembly; should 
remain unquestioned upon the subject of their 
past loyalty, and should have as free trade as the 
people of England. 

During the Commonwealth the people of Vir¬ 
ginia took advantage of the time to establish free 
institutions in their midst. She claimed the right 
to select, and to displace, her Governors; she 
gave her House of Burgesses the right of legis¬ 
lation and power to control all political matters 
of the colony; she was the first state, of any ex- 


12 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


tent, in the world, to bestow upon her freed ser¬ 
vants the right of suffrage. Virginia, also made 
advances toward the establishment of Free Trade 
and Religious Freedom. During this time of 
Cromwell’s mastery over England the Colonists 
were disposed to let their attachment for the 
Stewarts grow no less. They sent Commission¬ 
ers to Charles to invite him to come and rule 
over them, and promised protection to his rights 
with men and arms. This expression of true 
loyalty by the Colonists was much appreciated by 
him. He contemplated going to Virginia, his 
Ancient Dominion , as he styled her, to be 
crowned King of the Colony and Scotland, Ire¬ 
land and England. Upon the death of Crom¬ 
well, and the resignation of his son, Charles II. 
was called home and crowned King on the 31st 
of May, 1660. 

Bancroft says: The population of Virginia at 
that time “may have been 30,000.” “Many of 
the recent comers had been Royalists, good offi¬ 
cers in the war, men of education, of property, 
and of condition. * * * The genial climate 

and transparent atmosphere delighted those who 
had come from the dense air of England. Every 
object in nature was new and wonderful. * * 

* The forests, majestic in their growth, and 
tree from underwood, deserved admiration for 
their unrivaled magnificence; purling streams and 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


*3 


frequent rivers, flowing between alluvial banks, 
quickened the soil into unwearied fertility; strange 
and delicate flowers grew familiarly in the fields; 
the woods were replenished with sweet barks 
and odors; the gardens matured the fruits of Eu¬ 
rope, of which the growth was invigorated and 
the flavor improved by the virgin mould. Espe¬ 
cially the birds, with their gay plumage and va¬ 
ried melodies inspired delight. Every traveller 
expressed his pleasure in listening to the mock¬ 
ing bird * * imitating and excelling the notes 

of all its rivals. The humming-bird, so brilliant 
in plumage, so delicate in form, and so quick in 
motion * * was ever admired as the smallest 

and the most beautiful of the feathered race. The 
rattlesnake, * * the opossum, * * the noisy 
frog, * * the flying squirrel, * * and myr¬ 
iads of pigeons * * were the subjects of the 

strangest tales. To the men of leisure the chase 
furnished a perpetual resource; * * the horse 

was multiplied, * * and to improve that noble 

animal was an object of pride, soon to be fa¬ 
vored by legislation. * * Proverbial was the 

hospitality of the Virginians. * * The morasses 
were alive with water fowl; the creeks abounded 
with oysters; * * the rivers were crowded 

with fish; the forests were nimble with game; 
the woods rustled with coveys of quails, and wild 
turkeys, and rang with the merry notes of sing- 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


H 

ing birds; and hogs * * ran at large in troops. 

It was the best poor man’s country in the world. 
Immigrants never again desired to live in Eng¬ 
land.” 

It was here that John Washington lived, pros¬ 
pered and died, surrounded by plenty in a beau¬ 
tiful land. Here he became a man of considera¬ 
tion in the Colony, an able officer in war, and a 
representative in peace. 

His estates descended in course of time to his 
grand-son and heir, Augustine Washington, who 
remained on the homestead, cultivating its broad 
acres for many years. At last, the drama of his 
family life is overtaken with tragedy, and his wife, 
Jane Butler, a woman of lovely character, leaves 
him with three motherless children and his house 
darkened with grief. 

Fortunately, he finds another mother for the 
bereaved household, who proved to be all he 
could desire. Mary Ball, an intelligent, energetic 
and prudent woman, known at that time as the 
Belle of the Northern Neck, (as is called that 
part of Virginia between the Potomac and Rap¬ 
pahannock) and Augustine were married on the 
6th of March, 1730. 

On the 22d day of February, 1732, the immor¬ 
tal patriot, George Washington, was born. 
Little did his parents dream that that name was 
to become one of the most memorable in the an¬ 
nals of time’s history. 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


15 

It is seldom we find a great and good man who 
has not had a good mother. In this respect George 
was highly favored. His mother has been called 
blessed by our whole country, and held foremost 
in reverence and respect. Once known as the 
Belle of Northern Virginia, but now, and for all 
time, known as Mary , the Mother of Washing¬ 
ton. George never ceased to revere his mother, 
and a nation’s homage gathers around the mem¬ 
ory of the mother of Washington. 

Soon after George’s birth, the family moved to 
Stafford county, near Fredericksburg; here Au¬ 
gustine Washington died in 1743, when George 
was only eleven years old. 

Lawrence Washington, who was fourteen years 
older than George, his half-brother, had the cus¬ 
tomary superior opportunities of obtaining an 
education afforded by the wealthy families of Vir¬ 
ginia; that of going to school in England. 

George was deprived of these great privileges. 
Early in life he was left in the sole care of a so¬ 
licitous mother. He received his education in 
the common branches, taught in a country school 
by one of his father’s tenants and from his moth¬ 
er at home. 

Lawrence Washington distinguished himself 
by military services in the West Indies, under 
Admiral Vernon and General Wentworth, and 
had become a great personage in the Colony; had 


1 6 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

married Anne Fairfax, daughter of Wm. Fair¬ 
fax, of English distinction, living in Westmore¬ 
land, on the Potomac, at his seat, Belvoir, which 
was far-famed for its elegance and hospitality; 
and had built on his estates a fine mansion, which, 
in honor of his old commander, he had named 
Vernon. George was sent to the home of Law¬ 
rence Washington, at Mt. Vernon, that he 
might attend a school near by—Williams’—and 
gain a more comprehensive knowledge of the 
studies taught therein; which course, however, 
excluded all the higher branches and learned lan¬ 
guages. What he studied, he studied diligently; 
and what he learned, he learned thoroughly; ac¬ 
quiring much skill in drafting, in keeping ac¬ 
counts, and in the art and science of surveying in 
which he intended to engage; and which after¬ 
wards afforded him vast opportunities to acquire 
a knowledge of public lands, their location and 
value, and contributed to his means of accumu¬ 
lating a private fortune. 

George, in his early days evinced much ability 
in athletic exercises and feats of strength, excell¬ 
ing in all manly sports and becoming a skillful 
horseman. He also developed a very noble char¬ 
acter. He was noted for his frankness, fearless¬ 
ness and moral courage; and yet he ever dis¬ 
dained the idea of a quarrelsome spirit, or of 
domineering over his associates. 


George Washington. 


i7 


The story of the “cherry tree” (which we will 
omit), and other stories incident to his life, with 
which the world is well acquainted, but reflects 
the true nature of the loftiness of character which 
he possessed. 

His ambitions and desires made him a natural 
leader, and, surrounded by associates of such 
high order, people of wealth, education, adven¬ 
turous spirit and experience, whose narratives 
were best calculated to foster and strengthen his 
military aspirations, until at last, he sought and 
obtained a commission in the British Navy, and 
was about to sail. Ilis mother entreated him ur¬ 
gently to stay, and he abandoned his much cher¬ 
ished desire. 

It is said, that his mother’s prayers were obeyed 
more readily, because our hero’s heart had been 
captured by a beauty he had met at Mount Ver¬ 
non or Belvoir. Who she was, is not positively 
known; he guarded the secret with the utmost 
care; had it not been for the amorous verses in 
his copy-book,—that inseparable companion of his 
youth,—descriptive of his “Lowland Beauty” it 
would have remained unrevealed. Tradition says, 
she was a Miss Grimes and married a Mr. Lee, 
and became the mother of Light Horse Harry 
Lee, a distinguished revolutionary officer, gov¬ 
ernor of Virginia and author of that phrase which 
so deservedly describe Washington, and which 


1 8 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

millions of voices have caught up and re-echoed 
in after years, “First in War, First in Peace and 
First in the Hearts of His Countrymen.” Mr. 
Lee, the author of the above, was also the father 
of the most eminent of Confederates, General 
Robert Edmund Lee. 

About this time, Thomas, Lord Fairfax, came 
to Virginia to look after his immense estates. He 
was visiting his cousin William, the father of Mrs. 
Lawrence Washington, near Mount Vernon. 
He, in his former days, had been a gallant in 
London society. His rank, wealth and high con¬ 
nections had given him a place in the most fash¬ 
ionable circles of society; and with his personal 
worth and accomplishments, he had added pres¬ 
tige to them. But now, he was old, tall, sharp- 
featured and ungainly; had been disappointed in 
love, and he abandoned society altogether; and 
shortly afterwards, seeking to be divided from 
his sorrow and mortification, had come to Vir¬ 
ginia and entered upon vast possessions. His 
estates, derived by him through his mother, a 
daughter of Lord Culpepper, to whom they had 
been granted by Charles II., embraced a large 
strip of land between the Potomac and Rappa¬ 
hannock rivers, a great part of the Shenandoah 
Valley, and extended far away over the Blue 
Mountains, to an undefined distance in the in¬ 
terior. This domain contained rivers, forests, 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 19 

mountains, valleys, prairies and wealth unex¬ 
plored. 

Lord Fairfax had become the constant friend 
of young Washington. He admired his honor, 
judgment and unblemished and dignified charac¬ 
ter. He had discovered his superior abilities in 
horsemanship; this was one of the things that 
gave Washington a place of special favor in the 
estimation of Lord Fairfax. He needed the ser¬ 
vices of a man of such model courage and abil¬ 
ity to explore the pathless wilds of his posses¬ 
sions, which then, were ranged by many wild 
beasts and savages. George Washington, then 
a lad of sixteen years and one month, undertook 
that arduous task. 

In March, 1748, with few attendants he started 
on his perilous journey. The spring freshets had 
swollen the streams, and snow still lingered on 
the mountain tops and in the sunless ravines. 
Through these solitudes this heroic boy was to 
thread his way. Following the trail of the In¬ 
dian, through the almost unbroken forest, float¬ 
ing in the birch canoe upon the rivers, climbing 
mountains and struggling through morasses 
which, perhaps, had never been pressed by the 
foot of man; beset by almost every imaginable 
disadvantage, and dealing day and night with the 
treacherous savage, he performed the labor of 
his mission and returned to Mount Vernon in 
April, 1749. 


20 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Lord Fairfax was so well pleased with the re¬ 
port George Washington made of these surveys 
and explorations that he moved across the Blue 
Ridge, laid out a large Manor of 10,000 acres, 
and erected a large Manor-house, which he called 
Greenway Court, and to which, Washington was 
ever afterwards a welcome visitor. 

Through the influence of Lord Fairfax, Wash¬ 
ington was made public surveyor. He made 
many surveys, and his work was so accurate, 
that they are received to this day with unques¬ 
tioned credit. While Washington was surveying 
in the Shenandoah Valley and elsewhere, great 
schemes, in which he was destined to play an 
important part, were working at home and abroad; 
the Indians were kindling their council fires, and 
were pondering over the encroachments of in¬ 
dustry, education and wealth, and Satan-inspired, 
resolved to sweep every vestige of civilization 
from the land, leaving it a howling wilderness. 
Their war-whoop echoed through the forest; 
they lighted their torches and sharpened their 
scalping-knives and tomahawks in preparation 
for the coming slaughter. Flame and woe deso¬ 
lated the land. They would rush at midnight 
upon the cabin of the remote settler, perpetrating 
examples of horrible butchery; scalping, killing, 
burning, plundering and torturing the husbands, 
wives, sons and daughters of the Colony, until 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


21 


the endless woe that ensued surpassed the power 
of tongue to tell. 

This dangerous foe, emerging from the forest 
at will, and striking such terrible blows, brought 
the entire military force of Virginia into action. 
For efficient management the Colony was di¬ 
vided into districts, and over each a military com¬ 
mander appointed, with the title of Major. At 
the request of Lawrence Washington, George 
was appointed as Major of the district in which 
he lived. In the fearful emergency at hand, the 
responsibilities of these positions were very great, 
as these Majors were vested with almost dicta¬ 
torial powers. 

George Washington, who, be it remembered, 
was only nineteen years of age at this time, 
was fast becoming a favorite of the Colonists. 

Both England and France claimed the land 
between che Rocky and Alleghany Mountains. 
England based her rights to it upon the discov¬ 
eries made by the Cabots, and France claimed it 
by right of the explorations made by Marquette, 
La Salle and Joliet. The French had conceived 
the great advantage of connecting their settle¬ 
ments in Canada with those in Louisiana, and 
with that view, sought to erect forts between the 
two Colonies. England had previously attempted 
the settlement of the territory west of the Alle- 
ghanies. Their traders had roamed through the 


22 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


valleys and came in contact with the French 
settlers: difficulties ensued. In 1749 nien ot in¬ 
fluence, of England and Virginia, among whom 
were Lawrence and Augustine Washington, or¬ 
ganized a company known as “The Ohio Com¬ 
pany,” which obtained a grant from the King of 
500,000 acres, upon the conditions, they should 
locate 200,000 acres at once, and settle one hun¬ 
dred families upon it in seven years; also, erect a 
fort, and garrison it, at the expense of the com¬ 
pany. 

The President of the Ohio Company died, and 
its principal management devolved upon Law¬ 
rence Washington, who sent Christopher Gist, a 
faithful companion of the Washingtons, to explore 
the country and establish friendly relations with 
the Indians. The French becoming alarmed at 
the increasing number of traders that were trav¬ 
ersing the country, sent De Bienville, in 1749, to 
confirm the friendship of the Indians and re¬ 
establish their possessions in the Ohio Valley. 
Three hundred men accompanied him. De Bien¬ 
ville ordered the English to absent themselves 
from the valley. Gist returned from his explora¬ 
tions in June, 1750. The Ohio Company sent 
parties to erect a fort on the Ohio river. The 
French extended their lines from Presque Isle to 
the Alleghanies and from thence toward the Ohio. 
France and England were both endeavoring to 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


2 3 


colonize the new territory. Each were trying to 
enlist the support of the Indians in their own be- 
halt. It became apparent that war was inevita¬ 
ble. 

During this time, and since he had been ap¬ 
pointed Major, George Washington had been 
studying military science and the tactics of war¬ 
fare. His studies were interrupted by the sick¬ 
ness of his devoted brother, Lawrence, who sought 
to regain his health by going to the Barbadoes 
Islands. George accompanied him; while here, 
in 1751, George had the small-pox, which left its 
indelible traces upon his features ever afterwards. 
After recovering, George returned to Virginia 
and Lawrence went to the Bermuda Islands; he 
rapidly grew worse and resolved to return home. 
He did so, and died there, July 26th, 1752, in the 
thirty-fifth year of his age. His death was a sad 
burden for George to sustain. Lawrence had 
been to George as both father and brother. He 
left a large amount of property. Leaving a 
widow, and infant daughter, who inherited the 
fortune, with the provision that after the death of 
the mother, and if the daughter died without 
heirs the estate was to go to George. George 
was now twenty years old. He was one of the 
executors of the will, and so much confidence 
was placed in him, that he was entrusted with 
the entire management of the affairs of the estate. 


24 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


The French and English continued to fortify 
and strengthen their positions on the Ohio. The 
Indians, very shrewdly sent in a deputation to 
Governor Dinwiddie, inquiring what portion of 
the country along the Ohio belonged to them, 
since England demanded all the land upon one 
side of the river, and France all upon the other. 

The Ohio Company appealed to Governor Din¬ 
widdie of Virginia for help. He sent Captain 
William Trent to treat with the French comman¬ 
der to withdraw his forces. Trent, on hearing 
of a skirmish which resulted disastrously to Eng¬ 
lish participants, became discouraged and re¬ 
turned to Williamsburg. 

There are but few men of any age, but what 
are loth to undertake such perilous enterprises as 
these; and, but few that have the ability to with¬ 
stand the trials incident to them. George Wash¬ 
ington was one of the exceptional few who pos¬ 
sessed courage and sagacity equal to the task. 
He offered his services to Governor Dinwiddie, 
who eagerly accepted them, as he exclaimed: 
“ Truly you are a brave lad; and, if you play your 
cards well you shall have no cause to repent your 
bargain.” 

Washington started on his mission from Wil¬ 
liamsburg, the capital of Virginia, the day he re¬ 
ceived his credentials from the Governor, (Octo¬ 
ber 31st, 1753), accompanied by a few white men 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


2 5 


and one or two trusted Indian guides. The party 
crossed the mountains, threaded the forest, 
reached the Monongahela river, and paddled a 
canoe for eight days down the river to where 
Pittsburgh now stands; and from there they went 
to Ft. Venango, where Washington found the 
French commander, loud and boastful. At Ft. 
Le Bceuf, St. Pierre treated him with the utmost 
respect, but refused to discuss theories with him. 
Washington learned all he could as to position 
and strength of the French and started home¬ 
ward, a distance of four hundred miles with many 
difficulties to encounter. He mistrusted the 
French and Indians would conspire to kill him; 
therefore, he was ever on the alert to elude their 
attacks. The streams were swollen; the snow 
was falling and freezing; the woods were alive 
with hostile Indians. Their horses gave out and 
he proceeded on foot. He quit the usual path, 
and with one companion, the faithful Gist, struck 
boldly through the woods with the compass for 
their guide. An Indian, in ambush, bred at them 
but missed his mark and was captured. Gist was 
in favor of dispatching him on the spot, but 
Washington regarded him as the tool of others 
and they let him go, and pushed on as rapidly as 
possible. The swollen streams did much to im¬ 
pede their progress. Once, during the journey, 
Washington was thrown from a rudely con- 


3 


2 6 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


structed raft, amidst the floating ice and came 
near drowning. Their courage and fortitude 
proved sufficient, and they reached Williamsburg 
on the 16th of February, 1754. Washington’s 
journal of this trip was published in England and 
Virginia, and attracted much attention. It so 
strongly evidenced the qualities of this man, that, 
from that time he was the rising hope of the 
Colony. 

After Washington had delivered to Governor 
Dinwiddie the sealed reply, which gave evidence 
that the French had no intention of withdrawing 
their forces, he visited the Legislature then in 
session at Williamsburg. He entered the gal¬ 
lery, unconscious of attracting any attention, 
when the speaker chanced to see him, and, rising, 
proposed that, “The thanks of this house be given 
to Major Washington, who now sits in the gal¬ 
lery, for the gallant manner in which he has ex¬ 
ecuted the important trust lately reposed in him 
by his Excellency the Governor.” Every mem¬ 
ber arose and greeted Washington with an en¬ 
thusiastic burst of applause. Embarrassed by 
this unexpected honor, he endeavored in vain to 
give utterance to his thanks, when the speaker 
came to his relief, saying, u Sit down , Major 
Washington • your modesty is alone eqtial to 
your merits 

Governor Dinwiddie, a strong-headed reckless 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


2 7 


man, began to organize a force to “Seize as pris¬ 
oners, drive away, or kill ” all persons not sub¬ 
jects of Great Britain, who should attempt to take 
possession of any of the lands along the Ohio or 
any of its tributaries. A regiment of about four 
hundred men was raised and sent forward to the 
frontier. Washington was offered the command. 
On account of his youth and inexperience he de¬ 
clined. It was given to Colonel Fry, who made 
Washington his first-lieutenant. Their mission 
was to march again through the wilderness and 
drive the French from the Ohio. Washington 
had readily observed that the fork of the Ohio, 
where Pittsburgh now stands, was the key to the 
whole country, and suggested that it be seized 
and fortified as soon as possible. This was their 
objective point, and they were hurrying to it with 
a garrison and tools to construct a fort. Much 
to their disappointment, the French had antici¬ 
pated them, and came from Canada, one thousand 
strong, built a fort upon that identical spot and 
had placed eighteen pieces of cannon in position. 
Washington had taken the lead in this expedition 
and Colonel Fry was to follow with the artillery. 
Washington coursed his way through swamps, 
rivers, defile's, mountains and a multitude of diffi¬ 
culties. His troops were poorly paid, had poor 
rations and supplies. Colonel Fry died on the 
journey. Some recruits came on, but were of 


28 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


poor service. Washington could not think of at¬ 
tacking the French in their stronghold of Ft. 
Du Quesne. Their numbers far exceeded his. To 
retreat, with the wilderness swarming with the 
enemy’s scouts and Indian allies of the French, 
all about him, would prove equally as ruinous. 
The sufferings of the young commander, now 
only twenty-two years of age, in view of the 
humiliating surrender of his whole force without 
striking a blow, must have been great. He was 
ready for almost anything rather than do this. 
The French had sent out M. Jumonville with a 
party, and claimed that he was serving as a civil 
messenger to confer with the English, respecting 
the object of their approach, as there was no 
declaration of war. Washington was informed 
that the foe was marching against him to attack 
him by surprise. He, therefore, took forty men 
from his camp, and guided by a few friendly In¬ 
dians, made his way through the tempest and 
gloom of a stormy night to where Jumonville 
and his men were unsuspectingly sleeping. Re¬ 
garding them as enemies, he fell instantly upon 
them. Jumonville and ten of his men were 
killed, twenty-five were taken prisoners. A few 
escaped. Thus the first hostile gun was fired, 
and a long, cruel, bloody war of seven years, with 
all its horrors, inaugurated. The French', learn¬ 
ing of this, regarded it as one of the grossest of 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


2 9 


outrages, and immediately dispatched 1,500 men 
to avenge the wrong. Washington could not re¬ 
treat; neither could he hope for success in a con¬ 
test with such overwhelming numbers. To make 
the best of the situation, he constructed such 
works as he could hastily, and in accordance with 
the great need of them, they were named Ft. 
Necessity. Here he fought a whole day, against 
the enemy from all sides, with less than four 
hundred men. Surrounded, and with starvation 
staring them in the face, he surrendered, but was 
allowed to retain everything but their artillery, 
and march unmolested to the inhabited part of 
Virginia. This battle occurred on the 3d of July, 
1754, in which the Virginians sustained a loss of 
twelve killed and forty-three wounded. The loss 
of the French was much greater. Washington 
suffered no immolation of character from this ad¬ 
venture, on the whole he was given credit for 
the courage and bravery he displayed through¬ 
out the expedition. 

About this time orders came from England to 
the effect that, not only all officers commissioned 
by the King or his Generals in North America, 
should take rank over all officers commissioned 
by the Governors of the Provinces, but, that 
Generals and Field officers of the Provincial troops 
should have no rank while serving with the Gen¬ 
erals and Field officers of the Crown. Colonel 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


3° 

Washington’s feelings as a soldier, forbid him in 
submitting to such a humiliating degradation, and 
while expressing a great desire to continue in the 
service, if permitted to with respect to himself, 
he retired from the army. He visited his mother, 
brothers and sisters, and went to Mt. Vernon to 
take up the duties of private life. 

In 1755, when Braddock came to America, he 
heard of Washington’s great worth and invited 
him to enter his army as a volunteer Aide-de- 
camp. Washington was eager to accept this posi¬ 
tion. He was received with great courtesy by 
Braddock and his officers. He was introduced to 
the Colonial Governors, Shirley, of Massachusetts; 
Delancey, of New York; Morris, of Pennsylva¬ 
nia; and Sharpe, of Maryland, in a manner that 
showed that his merits were appreciated. Brad¬ 
dock had agreed upon an expedition against Ft. 
Du Quesne, which he undertook in person. He 
landed his troops at Alexandria. They consisted 
of two regiments of five hundred men each; one 
commanded by Sir Peter Halket and the other 
by Colonel Dunbar. This force was augmented 
by a few hundred picked Provincial men and a 
train of artillery, a detachment of Seamen, thirty 
in number, two companies of Pioneers, six of 
Rangers, and one troop of Light Horse. 

Braddock started for Wills’ Creek, and on the 
19th of May reached Cumberland, where he en- 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


31 


camped for a while to obtain means for transpor¬ 
tation of his army. This was the first army that 
Washington had seen camped in strict accord¬ 
ance with military discipline; the Americans were 
extremely awkward. Captain Ormes, of Brad- 
dock’s staff, remarked: “Their languid, spiritless 
and unsoldier-like appearance, with the lowness 
and ignorance of most of their officers, gave lit¬ 
tle hopes of their future good behavior.” How 
soon he discovered he was gloriously deceived! 

While at Cumberland, Washington had again 
met his friend Dr. Craik and become acquainted 
with Captain Horatio Gates. While at this place 
he was sent to Williamsburg to bring £4,000 for 
the military chest. After an absence of eight 
days he returned, escorted by eight men. “Which 
eight men,” he says, “were two days assembling, 
but, I believe would not have been so many sec¬ 
onds in dispersing had they been attacked.” At 
length Braddock and his army moved forward 
toward Ft. Du Quesne, his objective point. On 
the third day Washington was stricken with a 
raging fever, which disabled him from riding on 
horseback. Washington desired to not fall be¬ 
hind the troops and was conveyed in a covered 
wagon. Braddock found the difficulties of this 
march, infinitely greater than he had anticipated, 
and sought Washington’s advice regarding the 
best measures to pursue. Washington gave his 


3 2 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


counsel with becoming modesty, and advised him 
to only take what artillery and baggage abso¬ 
lutely necessary, and with a chosen body of troops 
to press on rapidly to Ft. Du Quesne before it 
could be reinforced. This advice was adopted, 
and they started with 1,200 men and ten field 
pieces, on the 19th of June, but, “ instead of 
pushing ahead with vigor without regarding a 
little rough road, they were halting,” says Wash¬ 
ington, “ to level every mole-hill and bridge every 
brook.” Thus they were four days reaching the 
Youghiogeny—only nineteen miles. Here 
Washington became so ill that he was ordered 
to remain behind, with the assurance, at all events, 
that he should be enabled to rejoin the advance 
before reaching Ft. Du Quesne. Although so ill 
he could not ride on horseback, he rejoined the 
army when within about twelve miles of the Fort. 
He urged Braddock to send scouts ahead from 
the Virginia companies, as they were more ac¬ 
customed to Indian warfare, and thus avoid a 
surprise, the haughty commander rebuked Wash¬ 
ington for presuming to advise and instruct a 
veteran like himself. But. woeful were the con¬ 
sequences suffered by Braddock and his proud 
army on account of not heeding Washington’s 
entreaties. 

The glittering bayonets of British regulars 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


33 


flashed in the sunlight; all was serene and gay. 
July 9th dawned beautifully;— 

“Sweet day, so calm, so still, so bright, 

The bridal of the earth and sky.” 

Within about seven miles of Ft. Du Quesne, 
Braddock’s forces, just after crossing the Mo- 
nongahela, were attacked by a party of French, 
Indians and Canadians, who were concealed in 
the high grass of an open wood. The well-disci¬ 
plined English army had had no experience in this 
kind of fighting, and were thrown into utter con¬ 
fusion. Braddock vainly endeavored to rally and 
form his broken troops. Most of his officers 
were killed or wounded; every mounted officer, 
except Washington, was killed; two horses 
had been shot under him, and four bullets passed 
through his coat. Braddock was severely wound¬ 
ed. A disorderly retreat was effected. On the 
13th of July the army reached Great Meadows, 
where that night Braddock died, and was buried, 
—“ in a strange land without even so much as a 
funeral note.” Dunbar continued the march un¬ 
til they reached Philadelphia. The expeditions 
against Niagara and Crown Point were also fail¬ 
ures. The only victory gained by the British 
during the year was the brutal one over the de¬ 
fenceless Acadians. Washington arrived at Mt. 
Vernon on July 26th, still disabled by his long 
sickness. After the disgraceful retreat of Dun- 


34 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


bar, the frontier was left unprotected until the 
General Assembly met and voted £40,000 and a 
regiment of one thousand men to act for the 
public safety. Washington was the choice ol the 
people to take command of the regiment, and 
Governor Dinwiddie commissioned him, August 
14, 1755, as Commander-in-chief of all forces 
raised, or to be raised in Virginia. Washington 
now took position at Winchester, a few miles 
from Greenway Court, where lived his friend, 
Lord Fairfax, whom he often met. Washington 
soon became discouraged by the mean, contrary, 
meddling disposition of Governor Dinwiddie, and 
would have resigned his commission had it not 
been for the urgent entreaties of his friends, Lord 
Fairfax, Robinson—Speaker of the House, and 
others who knew his real worth and appreciated it. 
The genuine courage and bravery displayed by 
Washington in repulsing the Indians from the 
Shenandoah Valley, completely inspired his troops 
and secured for himself honor and praise through¬ 
out the Colonies. 

In 1757, Loudoun was recalled. The Colonists 
were called upon to put 20,000 men in the field. 
England was to arm and supply them. The cap¬ 
ture of several different points was considered; 
Amherst was to take Louisburg; Abercrombie, 
Ticonderoga and Crown Point; Forbes, Ft. Du 
Quesne. By the autumn of 1758, these three ob- 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


35 


jects were accomplished. Washington had par¬ 
ticipated most conspicuously in the third. He, 
himself, planted the flag of England in the 
smoking ruins of Fort Du Quesne on the 25th of 
November, 1758. The French now evacuated the 
beautiful valleys of the West, and the English 
were once more victorious. Washington now 
marched back to Winchester, and in a short time 
went to Williamsburg to take his seat in the Gen¬ 
eral Assembly, to which he had been elected by 
the people of Frederick county, while at Cum¬ 
berland. He was in delicate health, and his home 
affairs demanded his attention. Now, since the 
war was over, the work done, and he could do 
so without dishonor, he determined to retire from 
public life to the quiet of his home. He there¬ 
fore, at the close of the year 1758, resigned his 
commission as Colonel of the First Virginia regi¬ 
ment, and Commander-in-chief of all the troops 
of that Colony. 

Much rejoicing in America and England fol¬ 
lowed. One of the happiest of Colonial times. 
England had triumphed in the contest for do¬ 
minion in America. It was predicted by Count 
de Vergennes, the far-seeing French statesman, 
that England’s glory would not be lasting, but 
when she called upon the Colonies to contribute 
toward supporting the burdens of the war, they 
would answer by declaring their Independence. 


36 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


On the 6th of January, 1759, Washington was 
married to an accomplished young widow lady, 
with two children, and a large fortune. She was 
the daughter of Mr. John Dandridge. He now 
entered upon the enjoyment of several years of 
tranquil life at Mt. Vernon. This place was par¬ 
ticularly dear to him. Here he entertained his 
friends and lived most happily. No impulse of 
ambition could induce him to quit the pleasantries 
and quietude of domestic life. He only went 
when called by his countrymen, and then, in the 
truest sense of public devotion and patriotism. 

Parliament had levied many exhorbitant taxes 
upon the Colonists. Unbearable laws had been 
imposed upon them; they were denied the right 
of representation. Petitions were sent to Par¬ 
liament in the interest of the Colonists; in the 
interests of right and humanity, for the repeal of 
these abominable laws, but were heeded not. 
England’s right to impose taxes upon the Colo¬ 
nists was everywhere the one all-important topic 
of conversation. This right was denied; speeches 
were made in Legislatures bitterly denouncing it. 
Washington was a member of the Virginia Leg¬ 
islature when Patrick Henry made his famous 
patriotic speech in defence of the Colonies. 
Washington fully indorsed the ideas set forth in 
Mr. Henry’s speech. In a letter to George Ma¬ 
son he expresses his feelings on this subject, when 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


37 


he says: “At a time when our lordly masters 
will be satisfied with nothing less than the de¬ 
privation of American Freedom, it seems highly 
necessary that something should be done to avert 
the stroke, and maintain the liberty which we 
have derived from our ancestors. But the man¬ 
ner of doing it to answer the purpose effectually, 
is the point in question. That no man should 
scruple or hesitate a moment in defence of so 
valuable a blessing is clearly my opinion, yet arms 
should be the last resource. We have already, 
it is said, proved the inefficacy of addresses to 
the Throne. How far their attention to our 
rights and interests is to be awakened, or alarmed 
by starving their trade and manufactures, remains 
to be tried.” “The Northern Colonies, it appears 
are endeavoring to adopt this scheme. In my 
opinion it is a good one, and must be attended 
with salutary effects, provided, it can be carried 
pretty generally into execution. That there will 
be a difficulty attending it, everywhere, from 
clashing interests, and selfish, designing men, 
ever attentive to their own gain, and watchful of 
every turn that can assist their lucrative views, 
cannot be denied; and in the tobacco Colonies, 
where the trade is diffused, and in a manner 
wholly conducted by factors for their principals at 
home, those difficulties are certainly enhanced, 
but I think not insurmountably increased, if the 


38 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


gentlemen in the several counties will be at some 
trouble to explain matters to the people, and 
stimulate them to cordial agreements to purchase 
none but certain enumerated articles out of any 
of the stores, after a definite period, and neither 
import or purchase any themselves. I can see 
but one class of persons—the merchants except¬ 
ed—who will not, or ought not, to wish well to 
the scheme; namely, those who live genteelly and 
hospitably on clear estates. Such as these, were 
they not to consider the valuable object in view, 
and the good of others, might think it hard to be 
curtailed in their living and enjoyment.” This was 
precisely the class of people to which Washington 
belonged. However, he was willing to sacrifice 
his fortune and enjoyment for the good of his 
country. Mason’s reply was: “ Our all is at 
stake and the little conveniences and comforts of 
life, when set in competition with our liberty, 
ought to be rejected, not with reluctance, but with 
pleasure.” The result of this intercourse between 
Washington and Mason, was the draft by the 
latter of a plan of association, of which the mem¬ 
bers were to pledge themselves not to import, or 
use, any article of British merchandise, or manu¬ 
facture subject to duty. Washington was to pre¬ 
sent this paper to the House of Burgesses, which 
was to open in May of 1769. O11 account of the 

measures pursued by the House, when it con- 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 39 

vened, the Governor dissolved it, but all in vain, 
the Burgesses met at a private hall. Peyton 
Randolph was elected their Moderator. Wash¬ 
ington now brought forth his paper, which was 
signed by every person present. Pennsylvania 
approved of the proceedings of Virginia. Dela¬ 
ware and all the states south of Virginia adopted 
her resolution, word for word. Massachusetts not 
only asserted the rights of the Colonies, but en¬ 
deavored to remove the British troops from her 
capital. Parliament now passed an act repealing 
all duties laid in 1767, except that on tea. Lord 
North said: “The properest time to exert our 
right of taxation is when the right is denied. To 
temporize is to yield, and the authority of the 
mother country , if it be not supported now, will 
be relinquished forever. A total repeal cannot 
be thought of till America is prostrate at our 
feet.” 

The same day this act was passed, March 5th, 
1770, occurred the Boston Massacre, in which 
five persons were killed. This produced great 
excitement throughout the Colonies, and the 
troops were removed from the city. 

About this time Washington went to the Ohio 
Valley to see to some lands which were granted 
to him, and other men who served in the 
French and Indian War. He was accompanied 
by Dr. Craik and three negro servants. The 


4° 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


journey was an adventurous one. Virginia now 
had a new Governor, Lord Dunmore, who soon 
got into difficulty with the House ot Burgesses, 
for which reason that body was prorogued from 
time to time, until March, 1773. Washington 
was one of its most patriotic members, and al¬ 
ways prompt in attendance. One of the first ac- 
tibns of the House was to appoint a committee 
of eleven to see after the general affairs of the 
Colony, and to maintain a correspondence with 
similar committees of other Colonies. 

In the midst of these exciting scenes two 
events occurred to disturb the quiet life of Mount 
Vernon. In June, 1773, Miss Custis, Mrs. Wash¬ 
ington’s daughter, died while in her seventeenth 
year, and in February, 1774, Mrs. Washington’s 
son married Miss Calvert, of Baltimore. 

When the Colonies refused to use tea the de¬ 
mand for it was so much lessened, that the tax 
was reduced to a mere trifle. Large quantities 
of tea were sent to the agents at Boston, New 
York, Philadelphia and Charleston. The patriots 
determined not to permit the tea to be landed. 
At New York and Philadelphia the ships were 
sent back to England. At Charleston the tea 
was landed but stored in damp cellars, where it 
soon spoiled. At Boston occurred what is known 
as the “Boston Tea Party.” Some men dis¬ 
guised themselves as Indians, boarded the ships, 




GEORGE WASHINGTON. 41 

and emptied 342 chests of tea into the sea. The 
English Government was greatly angered at these 
proceedings, especially at Boston, and immedi¬ 
ately passed the Boston Port Bill, prohibiting the 
landing or shipping of goods, wares or merchan¬ 
dise at Boston, and removing the Custom House 
to Salem. This bill produced intense indigna¬ 
tion throughout the Colonies. The Virginia 
Legislature appointed the 1st of June as a day 
of fasting, humiliation and prayer. The Gov¬ 
ernor now dissolved the Legislature, but its mem¬ 
bers met elsewhere and passed a resolution de¬ 
nouncing the Boston Port Bill, and advised a 
General Congress to meet annually and discuss 
such measures as pertained to the united interest 
of the Colonies. A State convention was called, 
and Washington was chosen to represent his 
county. Contributions came pouring in from all 
the states for the relief of Boston. At this conven¬ 
tion Washington headed a subscription with a 
handsome gift of £50. He, also, presented a 
series of resolutions, and spoke eloquently in 
their support, declaring himself ready to raise 
1,000 men at his own expense, and march at their 
head to the relief of Boston. Peyton Randolph, 
Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick 
Henry, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison and 
Edmund Pendleton were appointed delegates 
from Virginia to the General Congress. On their 


4 


42 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


way to this Congress, Edmund Pendleton and 
Patrick Henry came to Mt. Vernon, where Wash¬ 
ington joined them, and they all went on horse¬ 
back to Philadelphia, at which place Congress 
met, September 5th, 1774. All the Colonies were 
represented except Georgia. Some one asked 
Patrick Henry whom he considered the greatest 
man in Congress. He replied, “If you speak of 
eloquence, Mr. Rutledge, of South Carolina, is 
by far the greatest orator; but if you speak of 
solid information and sound judgment, Colonel 
Washington is unquestionably the greatest man 
on that floor.” 

War was now inevitable. General Gage for¬ 
tified Charleston Neck and seized all the ammu¬ 
nition he could find. He sent a detachment of 
eight or nine hundred men, at night, to capture 
military stores at Concord. But when they 
reached Lexington, they found one hundred 
minute-men under arms, who refused to disperse 
and were fired upon, eight killed and others 
wounded, April 19th, 1775. The detachment 
then marched on to Concord and destroyed some 
ammunition, when a party of militia approached 
and were fired upon. Two were killed, and the 
Regulars retreated. By this time the whole coun¬ 
try was in arms and their route back to Boston 
was one of continual fighting. Had it not been 
for the reinforcements Gage had sent, doubtless 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


43 


not one of the detachment would have reached 
Boston. Their loss was about 273. The Pro¬ 
vincials lost about sixty. This news spread like 
wild-fire over the country. An army of 20,000 
men was raised. Georgia joined the other Colo¬ 
nies. Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold were 
sent to seize Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point. 
Reaching there at sunrise May 10th, 1775, Allen 
demanded the surrender of Ticonderoga, “In the 
name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental 
Congress.” The fort, with all its store, which 
had cost England £8,000,000, was surrendered 
without a struggle. On the same day, May 10th, 
the Second Continental Congress convened at 
Philadelphia. It ordered the enlistment of troops, 
the erection of forts, and the purchase of muni¬ 
tions of war and army supplies. To provide 
means, Continental money was issued to the 
amount of $3,000,000. Washington was chair¬ 
man of all committees on military affairs. 

Howe, Clinton and Burgoyne had now arrived 
at Boston with more British troops. John Adams 
explained the condition of the New England 
Army, and recommended the expediency of its 
being adopted by all the Colonies, and nominated 
George Washington Commander-in-chief. Sam¬ 
uel Adams seconded the nomination, and on the 
15th of June he was unanimously elected. Next 
day it was announced to him in Congress. Rising 


44 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


in his place, he expressed his high and grateful 
sense of the honor conferred upon him, and his 
sincere devotion to the cause. “But,” said he, 
“ lest some unlucky event should happen unfa¬ 
vorable to my reputation, I beg it may be re¬ 
membered by every gentleman in this room, that 
I this day declare with utmost sincerity, that I do 
not think myself equal to the command I am hon¬ 
ored with. As to pay, I beg leave to assure the 
Congress that, as no pecuniary consideration 
could have tempted me to have accepted this 
arduous employment at the expense of my do¬ 
mestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to 
make any profit of it. I will keep a true account 
of my expenses. These I doubt not they will 
discharge, and that is all I desire.” On the 20th 
of June, 1775, he received his commission, and 
started for the army, at Boston, on the next day. 
Gage determined to fortify Bunker Hill, but 
General Ward sent 1,200 men under Colonel 
Prescott, at night, to intrench Breed’s Hill, which 
was thought to be a more commanding site than 
Bunker Hill. The morning of June 17th came 
and the British were surprised to see the amount 
of work that had been done, and so quietly. 
Gage sent 2,500 men to attack the Americans in 
their new position. Twice the British were re¬ 
pulsed, but finally when the Americans’ supply 
of ammunition was exhausted they were forced 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 45 

to retreat. They lost 449 men, among whom 
was General Warren. The British lost 1,054. 

On July 2d Washington took command of the 
army. It consisted chiefly of undisciplined vol¬ 
unteers. The entire number was 14,500. His 
first care was to organize and drill his troops, 
purchase arms and supplies and strengthen his 
works. He called for reinforcements enough to 
give him a strong force of 20,000. On the 2d 
of March, 1776, a severe bombardment was com¬ 
menced on the British lines in Boston. On the 
night of the 4th, General Thomas took possession 
of Dorchester Heights, which gave him command 
of the harbor, and threw up strong fortifications. 
On the 17th of March the British evacuated 
Boston and the American force marched in amid 
great rejoicing. Congress voted its thanks to 
General Washington and his officers and soldiers, 
and ordered a gold medal to be struck in com¬ 
memoration of the event and presented to His 
Excellency. 

The British now sailed from Boston. Wash¬ 
ington hastened to New York, where he thought 
the British would go, but they appeared before 
Charleston, S. C., where they were again com¬ 
pelled to put to sea. Washington soon discov¬ 
ered the incompetency of his army for the great 
purpose for which it was raised. Also, his 
scarcity of supplies. Congress therefore called 


4 6 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


for 13,500 men, to be furnished by the adjoining 
states for the defense of New York, and for 
10,000 men to be furnished by Pennsylvania, 
Delaware and Maryland for the defense of Phila¬ 
delphia. The large number of Tories in New 
York greatly annoyed Washington. They once 
formed a scheme to seize him and deliver him 
into the hands of the British, but were detected, 
and some that were implicated in the plot were 
put to death. In the beginning of July, General 
Howe landed on Staten Island, and on the 12th 
was joined by his brother, Admiral Howe. 
Washington’s force on the first of July amounted 
to 10,000, but by subsequent reinforcements it 
numbered 27,000; 20,000 of which were fit for 
duty. A part of them, under General Putnam, 
were stationed on Staten Island. On the 27th of 
August they were attacked by the British, and 
driven back to Brooklyn with heavy loss. At 
midnight on the 29th, Washington silently with¬ 
drew the forces across the river, under cover of 
a heavy fog, and on the 15th of September took 
position at Kingsbridge. He was driven from 
here October 28th, and finally crossed the Hud¬ 
son and hurried forward for the defense of Phila¬ 
delphia, which was threatened. Cornwallis fol¬ 
lowed him closely as he retreated across New 
Jersey. He reached Trenton and crossed the 
Delaware December 8th, 1776. At this time 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


47 


the American cause was at its lowest ebb. All 
were disappointed, but Washington bore bravely 
all this discouragement, and when asked what he 
would do if the British should drive him from 
Philadelphia, replied: “We will retreat beyond 
the Susquehanna, and if necessary, beyond the 
Alleghany.” 

Howe went into winter-quarters at Trenton 
and other neighboring towns. Congress was now 
awakened to a sense of its duty and ordered the 
enlistment of a greatly increased force for the 
war, and invested in Washington dictatorial 
power for a period of six months. 

On Christmas night, 1776, Washington struck 
a daring blow. Crossing the Delaware with 
2,400 men, he fell upon the Hessians at Trenton, 
killed their leader, and in less than half an hour, 
took 1,000 prisoners and was on the way back to 
Philadelphia. On December 31st he recrossed 
the Delaware and took position at Trenton. 
Washington’s difficulties were now almost insur¬ 
mountable. Congress had no money and no 
credit. It was only by the pledge of the private 
fortunes of Washington and other officers and 
the liberality of Robert Morris, that means were 
gained to sustain the army, and at this critical 
time, the priceless boon of American liberty. The 
two armies had been engaged in a skirmish in the 
evening of January 2d, 1777, and were separated 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


48 

only by a small river. Cornwallis had a greatly 
superior force, and expected to make an attack 
in the morning that would “End the Rebellion.” 
That night, while the British thought all secure, 
Washington, leaving his camp fires burning to 
deceive the enemy, and marching in a round 
about way, fell upon the British at Princeton, at 
sunrise, January 3d, killing 160 and capturing 
300 prisoners, and escaped to Morristown, where 
he fortified too strongly to be taken by the Eng¬ 
lish force. These glorious victories of Trenton 
and Princeton were won at an opportune time. 
The depressed spirits of the Americans were 
raised, and rejoicing prevailed everywhere. Con¬ 
gress awakened new energies. The accomplish¬ 
ment of these brilliant successes, at a time when 
the whole country was in such a state of despond¬ 
ency, while the army was greatly inferior to that 
of the enemy in numbers, supplies and discipline, 
showed the great worth of their noble comman¬ 
der, and gained for him universal praises through¬ 
out America and Europe. 

Shortly after the adoption of the Declaration 
of Independence, July 4th, 1776, Congress sent 
Benjamin Franklin and two others to France to 
negotiate with that country for an alliance with 
the Colonies, and to borrow money. They re¬ 
ceived much encouragement, and were helped to 
money and to army supplies. La Fayette, a 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


49 


young French officer, accompanied by De Kalb 
and Pulaski, arrived at Charleston in 1777, and 
soon became a warm friend of Washington. 
During the same summer Congress adopted the 
Stars and Stripes. In October of this year oc¬ 
curred the surrender of Burgoyne, by which a 
fine army of 5,800 men became prisoners of war, 
and a large quantity of stores fell into the hands 
of the Americans. This brilliant victory greatly 
encouraged the Colonists. Howe withdrew from 
New Jersey, and set sail for Chesapeake Bay, with 
the intention of taking Philadelphia. Washing¬ 
ton was attacked in his position behind the Bran¬ 
dywine, September nth, 1777, and driven back 
with considerable loss. La Fayette was severely 
wounded. Washington now took position at 
Germantown, where an indecisive battle was 
fought October 4th. Howe entered Philadelphia 
for winter-quarters, and Washington went into 
quarters at Valley Forge, where he passed the 
winter of 1777-78, one of the gloomiest periods 
of the war. Here his army suffered for all the 
necessaries of life. Many of his men slept upon 
the frozen ground without even so much as a 
blanket to shield them from the cold storms of 
winter. While thus suffering from hunger, cold and 
sickness, Washington strove to have good cheer 
prevail, and by his untiring efforts he inspired his* 
men with true patriotism. But this was not all. 


50 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

Washington was himself the object of envy and 
jealousy. General Conway and some other cun¬ 
ning, selfish officers formed a cabal against 
him. They thought, by blaming him for the re¬ 
verses of the army, they would cause him to re¬ 
sign and General Gates would be put in 
command, but he bore bravely this envy and 
intrigue, and the army and country knew its ob¬ 
ject and looked upon the conspirators with scorn. 

During this winter Congress adopted the Arti¬ 
cles of Confederation, though they were not rati¬ 
fied by all the states until 1781. In the summer 
of 1778 the British fleet left Philadelphia for New 
York. Washington started in pursuit, and on 
the 27th of June, reached Monmouth, New Jer¬ 
sey, within five miles of the British. The next 
day Lee led an attack, but owing to his disad¬ 
vantages and want of confidence in his troops, 
he fell back. Cornwallis pressed upon the re¬ 
treating lines and threw them into great disorder 
and confusion. At this moment, Washington 
rode up, bitterly rebuked Lee, reformed his lines 
and renewed the attack. All day the battle raged 
and in the night the British retreated to New 
York. Washington took position at White 
Plains. In 1779, Stony Point was taken by Gen¬ 
eral Wayne. The British held New York, New- 
• port and Savannah, and attempted to take Charles¬ 
ton, but were repulsed by Rutledge, Moultrie and 
Pulaski. 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


Si 

In the year 1780 the war was carried on mostly 
in the south. On the nth of May, Clinton took 
Charleston after a gallant resistance. In this 
year Marion and Sumter forever distinguished 
themselves as partisan leaders. August 16th, 
1780, was made memorable by the battle of 
Camden. Gates had command of the Ameri¬ 
cans, Cornwallis and Rawdon the British. Both 
began a march to surprise the other, and both 
were surprised. About midnight the armies 
came upon each other. The battle began at the 
dawn of day. De Kalb was killed and the Ameri¬ 
cans defeated. Gates now entered North Caro¬ 
lina. Washington relieved him of his command 
and placed Nathaniel Greene in his stead. La 
Fayette went to France and obtained help. On 
the 10th of July, 1780, seven ships under com¬ 
mand of Count Rochambeau arrived at Newport 
and Washington went to Hartford to meet him. 
While he was gone Arnold plotted for the sur¬ 
render of West Point to the British, Sept., 1780. 
Major Andre was sent by the British to make ar¬ 
rangements with Arnold, and while on his way 
back to New York, he was captured and papers 
found upon him concerning the surrender of West 
Point. He was arrested, tried as a spy, sentenced 
to be hung, and was executed October 2d, 1780. 
When Arnold heard of Andre’s arrest, he escaped 
down the river to New York, and was received 


5 2 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


by the British as Brigadier General, and was 
given £10,000. In 1781, Greene distinguished 
himself in the south. From May until July Corn¬ 
wallis spent his time in laying waste the country. 
He then, fortified himself at Yorktown. Wash¬ 
ington heard that a French fleet would soon ar¬ 
rive in the Chesapeake, and saw that if he would 
place a strong army on the Peninsula, he would 
have Cornwallis absolutely at his mercy. De 
Grasse had arrived in the Chesapeake with his 
whole fleet—twenty-four ships—and landed 3,000 
men to reinforce La Fayette. On the 29th of 
September, 1781, the siege of Yorktown was be¬ 
gun. On the 6th of October fire was opened 
and continued incessantly until the 14th. Corn¬ 
wallis could do nothing, and on the 19th of Octo¬ 
ber surrendered his entire army—7,015 men—as 
prisoners of war. 

Count de Rochambeau now went into winter- 
quarters at Williamsburg. Washington sent 2,000 
men to the aid of General Greene in the Caro- 
linas; and the remainder of his army northward 
under General Lincoln for winter-quarters. He 
then, November 5th, 1781, quit Yorktown and 
arrived at Eltham, just in time to witness the 
death of John Parke Custis, Mrs. Washington’s 
son. He was in the twenty-eighth year of his 
age when he died, leaving a widow and four chil¬ 
dren, the youngest two of whom—a boy and a 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


S3 


girl—Washington adopted. He then proceeded 
to Congress, where he was received with high 
honor, and where he exerted all his influence to 
have the army prepared for an early campaign 
in the spring. Early in April, 1782, Washington 
established head-quarters at Newburgh on the 
Hudson. While here rumors of peace came, 
which had a relaxing effect upon the energies of 
the army. About this time great discontent pre¬ 
vailed in the American camps, and it required all 
of Washington’s abilities to prevent his troops 
from breaking out in open mutiny. On the 15th 
of March, 1783, he delivered a touching address 
to his officers, which had the desired effect, and 
quiet was restored. At the beginning of his ad¬ 
dress, he took off his spectacles to wipe them, 
saying, 66 My eyes have grown dim in the service 
of my country , hut never have I doubted her 
justice .” Ere long intelligence came that a 
treaty of peace had been signed at Paris, Sep¬ 
tember 3d, 1783. On the 25th of November the 
British evacuated New York, and Washington 
took possession of the city. A few days after¬ 
ward, Washington left for Congress, which was 
then convened at Annapolis, with the object of 
resigning his Commission. At a tavern, near 
White Hall Ferry, his principal officers were as¬ 
sembled to bid him adieu. He entered the room 
and finding himself surrounded by his compan- 


54 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


ions, his emotion nearly overcame him. He 
filled a glass with wine, and said, “With a heart 
full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of 
you, most devoutly wishing that your latter days 
may be as prosperous and happy, as your former 
ones have been glorious and honorable. I can¬ 
not go to each of you to take my leave, but shall 
be obliged if each of you will come and take me 
by the hand.” The parting was affectionate in 
the extreme. They all followed their beloved 
Commander to the barge which was to convey 
him across the Hudson, waving their hats as he 
was carried away, and returned in silence to the 
tavern, not a word having been spoken. Wash¬ 
ington stopped in Philadelphia to adjust accounts 
with the Treasury. From the commencement of 
the war down to that day, December 13th, 1783, 
he had kept an account of all his expenses, in 
his own hand-writing, and in a most strictly ac¬ 
curate manner. He had spent £14,500 during 
the progress of the war. He would receive no 
pay whatever for his services. His journey to 
Annapolis was everywhere hailed with enthusi¬ 
asm. He arrived at Annapolis the 20th of De¬ 
cember, and upon the 23d entered the Congres¬ 
sional Hall. He was conducted to the chair 
prepared for him, by the Secretary of Congress. 
The gallery was filled with ladies and officers of 
the army. The members of Congress were 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


55 


seated with their hats on, and the other gentle¬ 
men present stood with their hats lifted. The 
President of Congress arose and said: “The 
United States Congress assembled are now pre¬ 
pared to receive your communication.” Wash¬ 
ington arose and delivered a short address in his 
own dignified and impressive manner, finishing 
with these words: “Having now finished the 
work assigned me, I retire from the great thea¬ 
tre of action; and, bidding an affectionate fare¬ 
well to this august body, under whose orders I 
have long acted, I here offer my Commission and 
take my leave of all the employments of public 
life.” He then delivered his Commission into the 
hands of the President, who said: “You retire 
from the great theatre of action with the bless¬ 
ings of your fellow-citizens; but the glory of 
your virtues will not terminate with your military 
command; it will continue to animate remotest 
ages.” Next day, Washington left Annapolis for 
Mt. Vernon, eased of a load of public care. He 
had not enjoyed the happy scenes of Mt. Vernon 
very long, when applications were made to him 
from various sources for material with which to 
write histories of the Revolution and memoirs of 
his own life. He declined to furnish any mate¬ 
rial whatever, saying it would rather wound his 
feelings than flatter his pride to have any memoir 
of his life written separately from the general 
history of the war. 


56 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


It was during this summer that La Fayette, 
who had come from Europe on a visit, spent a 
week at Mt. Vernon, and made another short 
visit at that place in December, just before his 
return to France. Washington accompanied him 
as far as Annapolis, and after he returned to Mt. 
Vernon, wrote to La Fayette one of his very few 
sentimental letters; he said: “In the moment of 
our separation, as I travelled, and ever since, I 
have felt all that love, respect and attachment for 
you, with which length of years, close connec¬ 
tion, and your merits have inspired me. I often 
asked myself, when our carriages separated, 
whether that was the last sight I should ever 
have of you. And though I wished to answer 
no, my fears answered yes. I called to mind the 
days of my youth and found that they had long 
since fled to return no more; that I was now 
descending the hill, which I have been fifty-two 
years climbing, and that though I was blessed 
with a good constitution, I was of a short-lived 
family, and might expect to be soon entombed in 
the mansion of my fathers.” 

In 1784, Washington and his friend, Dr. Craik, 
made another expedition to his lands on the Mo- 
nongahela, and after he returned he addressed a 
letter to the Governor of Virginia, advocating 
internal improvements as necessary to the growth 
and prosperity of the Union, and went to Con- 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


57 


gress to urge its support in person. He suggested 
that the Western rivers be explored; and the 
country mapped; that in all grants of land, the 
United States reserve for special sale all mines, 
mineral and salt springs; that a price should be 
put upon the public lands sufficient to prevent 
monopoly, but not to discourage settlement. 

Washington’s life, peaceful as it was, had its 
share of embarrassments. His correspondence 
became almost too great a burden to be toler¬ 
ated. Historians and portrait painters were con¬ 
tinually visiting the hero at Mt. Vernon. Among 
the artists that came was the distinguished French 
sculptor, Houdon. Franklin and Jefferson had 
sent him at the request of the Virginia Assem¬ 
bly, to study Washington for a statue. He re¬ 
mained at Mt. Vernon a week, and then returned 
to France, where he afterwards made the excel¬ 
lent statue and likeness of Washington which 
may be found now at the Capital of Virginia. 
Washington was relieved of the burden of his 
correspondence by his young secretary, Tobias 
Lear, of New Hampshire, who now resided at 
Mt. Vernon. Now he again enjoyed the rides 
through the woods in search of trees to shade 
his walks and roads. His estate included over 
3,000 acres, and it was his delight to beautify his 
home. One of the peculiar traits of his charac¬ 
ter was the care he took to avoid talking of him- 


5 


58 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

self. Even in his own family he never referred 
to anything he had ever done. While enjoying 
the delicious pleasures and pursuits of rural life, 
Washington was bereft of one of his favorite 
generals, and an intimate and beloved friend— 
General Nathaniel Greene, who died of sun¬ 
stroke, near Savannah, June 18th, 1786. 

Washington favored a strong central Govern¬ 
ment, and the Articles of Confederation were not 
satisfactory to him. He immediately saw 
their defect and wrote to Jefferson, Pendleton 
and Wythe, urging Congress to remedy them. To 
his step-son, John Custis, he wrote: “That Con¬ 
gress must have power and not merely recom¬ 
mend.” The pleas for a more perfect govern¬ 
ment were somewhat quelled by the preparations 
for a final campaign, but after peace was estab¬ 
lished, Washington was foremost in recommend¬ 
ing a new Constitution and urged its support to 
the extent of his ability and influence, which sur¬ 
passed by far that of any other individual in the 
United States. In June, 1783, he addressed the 
people by means of a circular to each Governor, 
in order to awaken a spirit of devotion to the 
Union, and to incite proper attention to a new 
Constitution. This letter was published by all 
the newspapers, and thus entered every home. 
It was everywhere received with respect, not 
only on account of the good principles it advo- 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


59 


cated, but because of the love and reverence 
everywhere cherished for its author. Even those 
who opposed the theme spoke with deference 
and respect. Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Dela¬ 
ware, New York, South Carolina, Maryland, 
Massachusetts and Virginia all endorsed it with 
enthusiasm, and many of them sent dispatches of 
thanks and affection to the author. 

In May a convention, consisting of delegates 
from seven states, the requisite number for a quo¬ 
rum convened at Philadelphia. Washington was 
unanimously chosen President of the meeting. 
This Convention was in session for four months, 
and the result of it was the adoption of the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States, signed by all the 
members present, except three, on the 17th of 
September, 1787. Washington being President, 
sent the Constitution to Congress, and Congress 
sent copies of it to the various Legislatures, and 
finally, on the 25th of June, 1788, New Hamp¬ 
shire ratified the new Constitution. It, now, hav¬ 
ing been ratified by nine States, went into effect. 

On the first Wednesday in January, 1789, oc¬ 
curred the first Presidential election. The elec¬ 
tors met on the first Wednesday in February 
and cast their ballots unanimously for Washing¬ 
ton. John Adams, of Massachusetts, was chosen 
Vice-President. 

On the 16th of March, Washington set out for 


Go 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


New York, then the temporary seat of Govern¬ 
ment. His journey was that of a continued tri¬ 
umphal march. Military parties met and escorted 
him from place to place. His entrance into the 
larger cities was announced by the firing of can¬ 
nons and ringing of bells. At Trenton his re¬ 
ception was planned by the ladies. An arch was 
erected over Trenton bridge trimmed with leaves 
and flowers, and upon the crown of the arch were 
the words, “December 26th, 1776.” The letters 
were formed of flowers. Beneath the arch he 
was met by a band of ladies. As he approached 
a party of little girls, each bearing a basket of 
flowers, began strewing them in his path, while 
the whole company sang an ode, prepared ex¬ 
pressly for the occasion by Governor Howell. 
The 30th of April was selected as his Inaugura¬ 
tion day. The manner in which he was received 
by Congress was flattering, indeed. An immense 
crowd had assembled to witness his inauguration. 
All were happy to know that their mighty Chief 
might rule over their land as completely as he 
ruled in their hearts. All was silent when Liv¬ 
ingston administered the oath of office; but when 
he cried: “Long live George Washington, Presi¬ 
dent of the United States,” his cry was followed 
by a storm of huzzas. In a sad and tremulous 
voice Washington delivered his inaugural ad¬ 
dress, and then accompanied by Congress, went 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


6 l 


on foot to St. Paul’s Church, where suitable pray¬ 
ers were oflered. At the beginning of this new 
field of action, Washington refused, as he had 
done once before, to accept any pay for his ser¬ 
vices, except what would be necessary to defray 
expenses. Congress, however, fixed his salary 
at $25,000 per annum. Washington’s Cabinet 
consisted of Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State; 
Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury; 
General Henry Knox, Secretary of War; and 
Edmund Randolph, Attorney General. He ap¬ 
pointed John Jay as Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court and took great care in filling all the lower 
offices. In accordance with the advice of the 
Vice-President, Madison, Hamilton and Jay, the 
etiquette of the White House was established, 
and remains but very little changed to this day. 
Washington was seriously ill in the summer of 
1789; he was confined to his bed for six weeks, and 
never fully recovered from the effects of his 
sickness. Just as he had gotten well enough to 
leave the house he was called upon to mourn the 
loss of his mother, who died on the 25th of Au¬ 
gust, when in the eighty-second year of her age. 
The fame and honor of her son had not changed 
her manner of living. Neither pride nor vanity 
ever disturbed the feelings awakened in her noble 
heart by hearing his praises resounded every¬ 
where. She would only listen and sometimes 


62 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


say: “George was always a good boy, and I 

hope has done his duty as a man.” Congress 
adjourned on the 29th of September until Jan¬ 
uary, and Washington made a tour through the 
New England States, accompanied by Mr. Lear, 
his secretary, and Mr. Jackson. He visited New 
Haven, Hartford, Boston, Worcester, Salem, 
Newburyport, and Portsmouth. At each place 
the people were equally enthusiastic in their 
greetings of their illustrious Chief. This journey 
furnished evidence of the people’s attachment to 
him, and their adherence to the administration. 

The National Debt was of two kinds: the For¬ 
eign, amounting to $12,000,000, and the Domes¬ 
tic, amounting to $42,000,000, besides debts con¬ 
tracted by the several States, amounting to $25,- 
000,000 more. The Foreign debt had to be paid 
in full, but a violent debate occurred in Congress 
with regard to the Domestic and State debts. 
The President expressed no opinion concerning 
the measure while under debate, but warmly ap¬ 
proved of the act funding the debt. Another se¬ 
vere illness weakened the President, and he sought 
recreation in the quiet of Mt. Vernon. 

For several years the people of the Western 
frontier were alarmed by the Indian ravages. 
General Wayne was sent to subdue them. A 
battle was fought August 20th, 1794, in which 
the Indians were defeated and a treaty of peace 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


6 3 


was signed the next year. In December, 1790, 
Congress met at Philadelphia. A National Bank 
was established, and a tax laid on liquor distilled 
in the United States. This tax met with violent 
opposition, and led to an open insurrection in 
Western Pennsylvania. Washington called out 
1,500 militia and placed General Henry Lee and 
General Morgan in command. This was a de¬ 
cisive measure, and the Whiskey Insurrection was 
at an end, 1794. 

During the summer of 1791, Washington made 
a three months’ visit to the Southern States. He 
passed through Richmond, Wilmington, Charles¬ 
ton, Savannah, Augusta and Columbia, and was 
greeted with the same great rejoicing as when 
on his tour through the New England States. 

Alexander Plamilton, leader of the Federalist 
party, and Thomas Jefferson, who led the Re¬ 
publican party, were political antagonists, and 
though both members of the Cabinet and both 
warm friends of Washington, their political dif¬ 
ferences finally settled into a personal enmity. 
Washington sought to reconcile them, but all in 
vain. There was only one point on which they 
could agree, and that was the necessity of Wash¬ 
ington at the head of the Government, and as his 
term drew to a close, both urgently entreated him 
to again accept the exalted position which he now 
occupied. Yielding to these and to other equally 


6\ 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


as ardent pursuaders, Washington reluctantly ac¬ 
cepted the Presidency for another term. His 
election was again unanimous. On the 4th of 
March, 1793, Washington was inaugurated Presi¬ 
dent of the United States for the second term. 

At this time the foreign relations of the United 
States were very much disturbed. The French 
had, in their struggle for liberty, excited the warm¬ 
est sympathy of the American people, yet the 
President wisely endeavored to maintain a strict 
neutrality. Our relations with Great Britain 
were also very annoying. Both governments 
claimed that the stipulations of the treaty of 1783 
had not been carried into effect. Washington 
sent Chief Justice Jay to England, who con¬ 
cluded a treaty with that government, in April, 
1795. This treaty was not at all satisfactory to 
Washington, but he submitted it to the Senate, 
which body ratified it in June, 1795, and the 
President signed it August 13th, 1795. Wash¬ 
ington now determined not to accept the Presi¬ 
dency again, and issued his farewell address, 
which was published September 15th, 1796. It 
was a paper unrivaled in the soundness and wis¬ 
dom of its counsels, and purity of its exalted sen¬ 
timents. It produced a profound sensation through¬ 
out the States. Some of the State Legislatures 
had it inserted in their journals, and all of them 
passed resolutions expressing their respect for 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 65 

him; their high appreciation of his services; and 
the regret with which they saw him retire from 
office. 

John Adams was now elected President, and 
Thomas Jefferson Vice-President, and were in¬ 
augurated on the 4th of March, 1797.' Wash¬ 
ington retired with his family to Mt. Vernon. 
On his way, he was welcomed with as ardent 
demonstrations of the people’s attachment to him 
as when honored and empowered with office. 
He was now permitted to enjoy one more year 
of private life, then he was again called upon by 
his country. The French had committed out¬ 
rages against the United States, and President 
Adams convened Congress and advised them to 
prepare for war. Congress authorized the Presi¬ 
dent to enlist 10,000 men and call them into 
actual service if France should declare war. The 
President immediately nominated Washington 
Lieutenant General and Commander-in-chief of 
all the armies of the United States. The next 
day, July 3d, 1798, Congress unanimously con¬ 
firmed the appointment. The Secretary of War 
carried the Commission to Mt. Vernon. Wash¬ 
ington would accept it only on two conditions; 
that the principal officers should be such as he 
approved, and that he, himself, should not be re¬ 
quired to take the field until his presence there 
became necessary. At his request Alexander 


66 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Hamilton was made Inspector General, with rank 
next to himself. Charles C. Pinckney and Gen¬ 
eral Henry Knox were appointed Major-Gener¬ 
als. Knox was offended because of being ranked 
with those who had been his inferiors, and de¬ 
clined. From that time Washington devoted 
most of his time in attending to the affairs of the 
army. He went on preparing for war, when 
France hinted that she was willing to make peace. 
President Adams sent three envoys to negotiate 
and the trouble was settled. While all were 
anxiously awaiting the settlement of these diffi¬ 
culties without again entering into the hardships 
of war, the nation was overwhelmed with grief, 
for Death had triumphantly carried off The Hero 
of Mt. Vernon. Every heart was sad, and every 
home mourned the loss of one whose equal never 
had been, or never has been since, and, doubtless, 
never will be. The world can boast of only one 
Washington. 

On the evening of the 13th of December, he 
was taken with an inflammatory affection of the 
Trachea. It commenced with a severe chill and 
soreness of throat. About eleven o’clock the 
next day Dr. Craik arrived and two other phy¬ 
sicians were called for counsel, but he was be¬ 
yond medical aid, and about half past eleven 
o’clock on Saturday night, December 14th, 1799, 
he expired, retaining consciousness and posses- 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


67 


sion of his intellect until the last. From the 
beginning of his sickness, he believed it would 
be tatal, and had adjusted what matters that 
required his attention, and awaited the last mo¬ 
ment to come with every evidence of that com¬ 
posure and evenness of mind for which his life 
is so equably and so peculiarly conspicuous. 
On Wednesday, the 18th day of December, his 
body was placed in the family vault at Mt. Ver¬ 
non. When the sad news reached Philadelphia, 
Congress was in session. It was decided that 
the House should wait upon the President to 
condole with him on the occasion, and a joint 
committee of the two Houses be appointed, to 
pay due honors to the memory of the man, who 
was “First in War , First in Peace , and First in 
the Hearts of His Countrymen .” General Henry 
Lee was appointed to deliver an oration before 
Congress, and the people were requested to ob¬ 
serve his birth-day. The mourning was univer¬ 
sal, and everywhere regarded with appropriate 
ceremonies. The people of the United States 
wore crape for thirty days. Bonaparte an¬ 
nounced the mournful tidings to the French 
armies and ordered the standards and flags of 
the entire republic to be draped in black. Fu¬ 
neral ceremonies were held throughout France, 
in the presence of chief, civil, and military 
authority. The British fleet, at Torbay, lowered 


68 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


its colors in honor of his memory. Never was 
the honor he received paralleled, he was, “The 
greatest of good men and the best of great 
men.” 

Washington was over six feet high, graceful 
and perfectly erect. His manner was formal and 
dignified. He opposed slaver} T , and would have 
set his slaves free at his death, but they and some 
of Mrs. Washington’s had intermarried, and he 
made provision for their liberty at her death. 
The younger ones were to be freed when twen¬ 
ty-five years old, and meanwhile taught to read 
and write. “He was more solid than brilliant, 
had more judgment than genius.” Green, one 
of England’s latest historians, says of him:—“No 
nobler figure ever stood in the forefront of a 
nation’s life. Washington was grave and cour¬ 
teous in address; his manners were simple and 

♦ * 

unpretending; his silence and the serene calm¬ 
ness of his temper spoke of a perfect self-mas¬ 
tery; but there was little in his outer bearing to 
reveal the grandeur of soul, which lifts his figure 
with all the simple majesty of an ancient■ statue, 
out of the smaller passions, and the meaner im¬ 
pulses, of the world around him. As the weary 
fight for independence went on, the Colonists 
learned little by little, the greatness of their 
leader, his clear judgment, his heroic endurance, 
his silence under difficulties, his calmness in the 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 69 

hour of danger or defeat, the patience with 
which he waited, the quickness and hardness 
with which he struck; the lofty and serene sense 
of duty that never swerved from its task, through 
sentiment or jealousy, that never through war 
or peace felt the touch of a meaner ambition, 
that knew no aim save that of guarding the 
freedom of his fellow countrymen, and no personal 
longing, save that of returning to his own fire¬ 
side when their freedom was secured. It was 
almost unconsciously that men learned to cling 
to him with a faith and trust which few men 
have won, and to regard him with a reverence 
which still hushes us in the presence of his mem¬ 
ory.” From the time of his beginning in public 
life the name of Washington has inspired increas¬ 
ing reverence throughout the world until now, it 
may be said, his praises fill the whole earth. 

It is only in our day that mankind are begin¬ 
ning to comprehend his true greatness and 
grandeur of character. His name was much 
venerated and his fame was greatly spread* and 
appreciated in his own time, but, few of the great 
ones of the earth fully understood the complete 
meaning of his many prophetic utterances. Fred¬ 
erick the Great and Napoleon measured him 
aright, and others of the Old World paid glowing 
tributes to his exalted worth. Jefferson said of 
him: “his integrity was most pure; his justice the 


7° 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


most inflexible I have ever known,—no motives of 
interest or consanguinity of friendship or hatred, 
being able to bias his decision. He was in every 
sense of the word, a wise, a good and great 
man.” Adams, in his inaugural address, spoke 
of him as one who, “By a long course of actions, 
regulated by prudence, justice, temperance and 
fortitude, had merited the gratitude of his fellow- 
citizens, commanded the highest praises of for¬ 
eign nations, and secured for himself immortal 
glory with posterity.” 

Lecky writes: “Of all the great men in history 
he was invariably the most judicious, and there 
is scarcely a rash word, or action, or judgment 
recorded of him.” “In the despondency of long 
failure; in the dark hour of national ingratitude 
as well as in the elation of sudden success and 
the midst of universal flattery; he was always 
the same calm, wise, just and single minded man, 
pursuing the course he believed to be right.” 

There is scarcely another man in history of 
the same type of morality. Nearly a century 
has flown since Washington has passed away. 
His memory is held sacred in the hearts of all 
America and the world. Continued efforts are 
made to preserve and beautify the surroundings 
of his resting place. Mt. Vernon and its tomb 
is one of the most marked and hallowed mauso¬ 
leums in the world. Its great sleeper there is 


GEORGE WASHINGTON. 


7 1 


a mighty magnet drawing all the world reverently 
to his resting place. Many spots in America 
contain suitable monuments and structures 
erected to the memory of Washington. His 
birthday is observed in many places as a legal 
holiday. A towering monument was dedicated 
to his memory at Washington City, with im¬ 
posing ceremonies, February 21st, 1885. Wash¬ 
ington towered above all others in his time, and 
so too this monument, so recently erected, 
higher than any other of the world, was not 
unjustly made, comparatively, disproportionate 
to his fame. From the day Washington ap¬ 
peared upon the theater of public action, to the 
present time, his fame has grown in greatness 
and brightness, and yet half the glories of his 
virtue and wisdom have never been told. 



7 2 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Chapter II. 


JOHN ADAMS. 

J^HIroHN Adams, one of the signers of that 
immortal document, the Declaration of 
""0 a Independence, and second President of 
the United States, was born October 30th, 1735, 
in that part of the old town of Braintree, Nor¬ 
folk county, Massachusetts, now known as 
Quincy, and situated about ten miles south-west 
of Boston. He was of Puritan descent. His 
maternal ancestor was John Alden, of the May 
Flower. The Adamses came from England to 
Massachusetts about the year 1630. They were 
a representative family of the hardy middle classes 
of New England society. Many of its members 
served their town as Selectmen and Recorders, 
but none of them rose to very great eminence. 
Joseph Adams, a brother of the father of the 
subject of this sketch, was a student of Harvard 
College and a minister in Newington, New Hamp¬ 
shire, for more than sixty years. The father of 
John Adams was a farmer, and for many years a 
deacon of the church. 


JOHN ADAMS. 73 

The boyhood of John Adams was spent at his 
home, during which time there was shown no 
great evidence of his mental worth. At length 
his father told him he must begin to prepare for 
life’s arduous work. He expressed a desire to 
become a farmer. After a few days of steady 
toil and thoughtful meditation he concluded to 
adopt his father’s plan and began to prepare for 
Harvard College. He entered that institution 
when sixteen years of age, and graduated when 
but twenty, in 1755. In a class of twenty-four 
he was among the leaders, distinguishing himself 
for his energy, intellect and integrity. One of 
his classmates became President of Harvard 
College, and another an eminent divine. 

Upon leaving College, Mr. Adams was com¬ 
pelled to start in life, alone and without money. 
He secured a position as teacher in a Grammar 
School at Worcester. His pay here did not more 
than satisfy his immediate wants for board and 
clothing, but he had opportunities to select his 
profession and afterwards to prepare for it. 

The natural inclination of Mr. Adams’s mind 
was toward politics. The following extract from 
a letter written before he was twenty years old, 
shows the wonderful foresight of his youthful 
mind. This letter, written as it was a score of 
years prior to the Revolution, and before any se¬ 
rious trouble with the mother country had devel- 


74 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


oped itself, seems almost prophetic. “Soon after 
the Reformation a few people came over into 
the New World for conscience’s sake. Perhaps 
this apparently trivial incident may transfer the 
great seat of empire into America. It looks like 
it to me; for if we can remove the turbulent 
Gallicks, our people, according to exact compu¬ 
tations, will in another century become more nu¬ 
merous than England itself. Should this be the 
case, since we have, I may say, all the naval 
stores of the nation in our lands, it will be easy 
to obtain the mastery of the seas, and then the 
united force of all Europe will not be able to sub¬ 
due us. The only way to keep us from setting 
up for ourselves is to disunite us. Divide et im - 
pera . Keep us in distinct Colonies, and then 
some great men in each Colony, desiring the 
monarchy of the whole, they will destroy each 
other’s influence and keep the country in equi¬ 
libria .” Thus John Adams, while yet in his 
teens, was calculating the growth and resources 
of America, and the length of the period, that 
would probably intervene between that time and 
the day when she would hold the balance of 
power against all Europe. Also the result of a 
unity of the Colonies. In the same letter, some 
of his views upon friendship are expressed. He 
says: “Friendship, I take it, is one of the dis¬ 
tinguishing glories of man; and the creature that 


JOHN ADAMS. 


75 


is insensible to its charms, though he may wear 
the shape of a man, is unworthy of the charac¬ 
ter. In this, perhaps, we bear a nearer resem¬ 
blance to unembodied intelligence than in any¬ 
thing else. From this I expect to receive the 
chief happiness of my future life.” This re¬ 
markable letter was published a half century 
later by the son of the man to whom it was 
written, Nathan Webb. One of Adams’s biog¬ 
raphers says of it: “It was a letter of an original 
and meditative mind, a mind as yet aided only 
by the acquisitions then attainable at Harvard 
College, but formed by nature for statesmanship 
of the highest order.” 

In April, 1756, Mr. Adams wrote to Charles 
Cushing, a classmate, as follows: “Upon com¬ 
mon theatres indeed the applause of the audience 
is more to the actors than their own approbation. 
But, upon the stage of life, while conscience 
claps, let the world hiss. On the contrary, if 
conscience disapproves, the loudest applauses of 
the world are of but little value. We have, in¬ 
deed, the liberty of choosing what character we 
shall sustain in this great and important drama. 
But to choose rightly, we should consider in 
what character we can do the most service to 
our fellow-men, as well as to ourselves. The 
man who lives wholly to himself is less worthy 
than the cattle in his barn.” This friend, in com- 


7 6 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


mon with Mr. Adams’s father, had urged him to 
enter the ministry. Mr. Adams’s refusal to 
gratify their desires, in the foregoing letter, was, 
in all probability, caused by the independence of 
his religious convictions, that were taking a shape 
at variance with the fixed theology of his family 
and time. 

August 21st, 1756, Mr. Adams effected ar¬ 
rangements with Mr. Putman, to study law un¬ 
der his direction for two years, in connection with 
school teaching. On the next day, he wrote in 
his diary as follows: “The study and practice of 
law, I am sure, does not dissolve the obligations 
of morality and religion.” Soon after he wrote 
to his friend Cranch concerning his “hard for¬ 
tune.” “I am condemned to keep school two 
years longer. This I sometimes consider a very 
grievous calamity, and almost sink under the 
weight of woe.” He then speaks of teaching 
school and studying law at the same time, and 
says: “It will be hard work, but the more diffi¬ 
cult and dangerous the enterprise a brighter 
crown of laurel is bestowed upon the conqueror.” 
At the expiration of his two years of preparatory 
study, Mr. Adams was admitted to the bar. He 
gave up school teaching and returned to Brain¬ 
tree, where his father’s house and table supplied 
him with what necessities of life he was unable 
to buy. For several years, while endeavoring to 


JOHN ADAMS. 


77 


build up a professional employment, he was al¬ 
most without clients, but spent his lonely office 
hours profitably in hard study, thus laying an en¬ 
during foundation for his future work. His first 
great success as a lawyer was in a criminal trial 
at Plymouth. It was upon the 25th of May, 
1761, that his father died. Mr. Adams had been 
at Braintree about three years, and remained there 
nearly three years more with but little to do 
save looking after the affairs of his widowed 
mother. 

In 1764 he was married to Miss Abigail Smith, 
daughter of Rev. Wm. Smith, a Congregational- 
ist minister of Weymouth. His wife was a lady 
of fine accomplishments, and excellent family 
connection. Her relationship with many of the 
best families of Massachusetts secured an in¬ 
fluence of great value to Mr. Adams in accumu¬ 
lating professional work. 

Adams’s patriotism for the American cause was 
aroused by a speech against the “Writs of As¬ 
sistance,” by James Otis. He noted the points 
of this speech and studied them profoundly. He 
recorded the following opinion of it: “Otis was 
a flame of fire! With a promptitude of classical 
allusion, a depth of research, a rapid summary of 
historical events and dates, a profusion of legal 
authorities, a prophetic glance of his eyes into 
futurity, a rapid torrent of impetuous eloquence, 


7 8 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


he hurried away all before him. American In¬ 
dependence was then and there born. Every 
man of an unusually crowded audience, appeared 
to me to go away ready to take up arms against 
Writs of Assistance.” Upon this same subject 
he afterwards said that, “James Otis then and 
there breathed into this nation the breath of life.” 

When the Stamp Act was passed by Parlia¬ 
ment in March of 1765, Mr. Adams, in common 
with the other patriots, was ready to resist its en¬ 
forcement. During the following summer, in re¬ 
sponse to a special invitation from the people of 
Boston, he addressed them concerning the pro¬ 
visions of this Act. The opposition awakened 
by this measure of Parliament caused the Gov¬ 
ernor to suspend the work of the courts, which 
seemed to be the death blow to Mr. Adams’s law 
practice, now becoming considerable, but fortu¬ 
nately the bill was repealed in March, 1766, and 
quiet for a time, restored. 

Affairs were becoming more and more com¬ 
plicated in England and America, and were tend¬ 
ing towards revolution. Question after question 
was being discussed. The best legal talent was 
constantly employed. Mr. Adams’s reputation 
rapidly spread throughout the Province, and in 
1768 he was able to remove his law office to 
Boston, its capital. In the year 1770, he, along 
with Josiah Quincy, who were foremost of Bos- 


JOHN ADAMS. 


79 


ton patriots in opposing British tyranny, were 
called upon by the British officers and soldiers to 
defend them in the prosecution made in conse¬ 
quence of the Boston Massacre. The defendants 
in these trials were all acquitted save two, who 
were found guilty of manslaughter. Upon the 
establishment of the Judicial Tribunal in 1776, 
under the authority of the State, the responsible 
position of Chief Justice was tendered Mr. 
Adams, but he was destined to fill other stations. 

From his youth Mr. Adams took a great in¬ 
terest in politics. This was, doubtless, in con¬ 
sequence of the natural tendencies of his mind, 
as well as the exciting political transactions of 
those times. He was, from the breaking out of 
the controversies between Great Britain and her 
colonies, a decided patriot. His first work as an 
author, excepting contributions for the press, 
was an essay on Canon and Feudal Law, edited 
in 1765, and republished in London, in 1767. 
His publicity as a lawyer and as an opposer of 
British aggressions, led to his election, by the 
people of Boston, in 1770, as a representative 
in the Colonial Legislature. In 1773, he was 
chosen a counsellor by the General Court, but 
was rejected by Governor Hutchinson. In 1 774 
the same honor was conferred upon him and in 
a like manner was rejected by Governor Gage. 

Since the time for an open rupture between 


8o 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


England and her American Colonies had come, 
a General Congress composed of delegates from 
all the colonies was called, and convened at 
Philadelphia upon the 5th of September, 1774. 
Massachusetts was represented by Thomas 
Cushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and 
Robert Treat Paine, whose appointments had 
been made by the House of Reoresentatives on 
the 17th of June, immediately before its dissolu¬ 
tion, by order of the Governor. Mr. Sewall, 
the King’s Attorney General of Massachusetts, 
and a friend to Mr. Adams, assured him of the 
determination of the government and endeavored 
to dissuade him from accepting this appointment, 
and warned him that they who persisted in their 
policy of resistance of the Crown would be in¬ 
volved in ruin. To this John Adams replied, “I 
know Great Britain has determined on her sys¬ 
tem, and that very determination determines me 
on mine. You know I have, been constant and 
uniform in opposition to her measures. The die 
is now cast, I have passed the Rubicon. Sink or 
swim, live or die, survive or perish with my 
country is my unalterable determination.” 

Of the first Continental Congress, Lord Chat¬ 
ham said, he had studied and admired the free 
States of antiquity, the master States of the 
world; but for solidity of reasoning, force of 
sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, no body of 


JOHN ADAMS. 


81 


men could stand in preference to this Congress. 
Their wisdom however reasoned in vain, at least 
so far as bringing about a peaceful solution of 
the difficulties then existing between the Colonies 
and the mother country. In vain did they re¬ 
monstrate with the British Government. In all their 
deliberations the part taken by Mr. Adams was 
a conspicuous one. He was a member of the 
most important committees, and when war had 
actually broken out and it became necessary to 
select a Commander-in-chief for the American 
Army then in camp near Boston, it was John 
Adams that moved that such trust should be 
confided in George Washington. 

Upon the 6th of May, 1776, it was he that 
presented the following resolutions to Congress: 
“Whereas it appears perfectly irreconcilable to 
reason and good conscience, for the people of 
these Colonies now to take the oaths and affirm¬ 
ations necessary for the support of any govern¬ 
ment under the Crown of Great Britain, and it 
is necessary that the exercise of every kind of 
authority under the said Crown should be totally 
suppressed, and all the powers of government 
exerted under the authority of the people of 
the Colonies for the preservation of internal 
peace, virtue, and good order, as well as for the 
defence of their lives, liberties, and properties, 
against the hostile invasion, and cruel depreda- 


82 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


tions of their enemies:—Therefore, it is recom¬ 
mended to the Colonies to adopt such a govern¬ 
ment as will, in the opinion of the representatives 
of the people, best conduce to the happiness 
and safety of their constituents, and of 
America.” 

On Friday, the 7th of June, 1776, Richard 
Henry Lee, a member of the Congress from 
Virginia, moved that u These United Colonies are, 
and of right ought to be free and independent 
states' that they are absolved from all alle¬ 
giance to the British Crown, and that all 
political connection between them and the State 
of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally 
dissolved .” This resolution was debated in 
Congress upon the 8th and 10th of this month, 
and finally postponed until the 1st of July. On 
the nth of June a committee of five members 
was elected to draft a Declaration of Independ¬ 
ence. This ballot resulted in the choice of 
Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Frank¬ 
lin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston. 
After the adoption of the original proposed reso¬ 
lution, by Richard Henry Lee, upon the 2d of 
July, this committee reported the Declaration of 
Independence, which was the work of Mr. Jef¬ 
ferson’s pen, but, Mr. Adams, after a three days 
debate in Congress secured its adoption. Mr. 
Jefferson says of him, a He was our Colossus on 


JOHN ADAMS. 


83 


the floor, not graceful, not elegant, not always 
fluent in his public addresses, yet he came out 
with a power, both of thought and expressions, 
which moved us from our seats.” Mr. Adams 
remained in Congress until November, 1777. 
While here he served upon nearly one hundred 
committees, of which he was chairman of at least 
thirty-five. He was President of the Board of 
War in 1776. 

After the opening of the Revolution Mr. 
Adams was absent from home, a considerable por¬ 
tion of many years. His journey to Philadelphia 
during the autumn of 1774, was the first time he 
had been out of New England. His correspond¬ 
ence with his wife upon State affairs, forms a 
consummate history of many acts of his official 
life. The following letter was written to his wife 
during a visit to Braintree: 

“Boston, 12 May, 1774. 

“My own infirmities, the account of the return 
of yours, and the public news coming all togeth¬ 
er, have put my philosophy to the trial. We 
live, my dear soul, in an age of trial. What will 
be the consequence I know not. The town of 
Boston, for aught I can see, must suffer martyr¬ 
dom. It must expire, and our principal consola¬ 
tion is that it dies in a noble cause—the cause of 
truth, of virtue, of liberty, and of humanity, and 
that it will probably have a glorious resurrection 


8 4 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


to greater wealth, splendor and power than ever. 
Let me know what is best for us to do. It is 
expensive keeping a family here, and there is no 
prospect for any business in my way in this town 
this whole summer. I don’t receive a shilling a 
week. We must contrive as many ways as we 
can to save expenses, for we may have calls to 
contribute very largely, in proportion to our cir¬ 
cumstances, to prevent other very honest, worthy 
people from suffering from want, besides our own 
loss in point of business and profit. Don’t im¬ 
agine from all this that I am in the dumps. Far 
otherwise. I can truly say I have felt more 
spirits and activity since the arrival of this news 
than I have done for years. I look upon this as 
the last effort of Lord North’s despair, and he 
will as surely be defeated in it as he was in the 
project of the tea.” 

Mr. Adams’s letters and diary, as well as his 
public utterances, were all indicative that he pos¬ 
sessed a deep philosophy of the triumph of lib¬ 
erty and justice. No matter how dark the pres¬ 
ent, he could always see the light of the future. 
He once wrote in his journal, “I wander alone, 
and ponder; I muse, I mope, I ruminate; I am 
often in reveries and brown studies. The ob¬ 
jects before me are too grand and multifarious 
for my comprehension. We have not men fit 
for the times. We are deficient in genius, in 


JOHN ADAMS. 


85 


education, in travel, in fortune, in everything. I 
feel unutterable anxiety. God grant us wisdom 
and fortitude! Should the opposition be sup¬ 
pressed, should this country submit, what infamy 
and ruin! God forbid! Death in any form is 
less terrible.’’ 

Mrs. Adams wrote him, June 18th, 1775, de¬ 
scriptive of the battle of Bunker’s Hill as follows: 
“The day, perhaps the decisive day, is come, on 
which the fate of America depends. My burst¬ 
ing heart must find vent at my pen. I have just 
heard that our dear friend, Dr. Warren, is no 
more, but fell gloriously fighting for his country; 
saying, ‘Better to die honorably in the field than 
ignominiously hang upon the gallows.’ Charles¬ 
ton is laid in ashes. The battle began upon our 
intrenchments upon Bunker’s Hill, Saturday 
morning, about three o’clock, and has not ceased 
yet; and it is now three o’clock, Sabbath after¬ 
noon. The constant roar of the cannon is so dis¬ 
tressing, that we cannot either eat, drink, or 
sleep.” 

The day following the adoption of the Declar¬ 
ation of Independence, Mr. Adams wrote to his 
wife as follows: “Yesterday the greatest ques¬ 
tion was decided that was ever debated in 
America; and greater, perhaps never was or will 
be decided among men. A resolution was passed 
without one dissenting Colony, ‘That these 


86 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


United Colonies are , and of right ought to be , 
free and independent States? The day is 
passed. The 4th of July, 1776, will be a mem¬ 
orable epoch in the history of America. I am 
apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding 
generations as the great anniversary festival. It 
ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliv¬ 
erance, by solemn acts of devotion to the Al¬ 
mighty God. It ought to be solemnized with 
pomp, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires 
and illuminations, from one end of the continent 
to the other, and from this time forward forever. 
You will think me transported with enthusiasm; 
but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and 
blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain 
this Declaration, and support and defend those 
States; yet, through all the gloom, I can see that 
the end is worth more than all the means, and 
that posterity will triumph, though you and I 
may rue, which I hope we shall not.” 

In November, 1777, Congress appointed Mr. 
Adams to succeed Silas Deane, as a Minister to 
France, to assist in negotiating an alliance with 
that power. Accepting the appointment he set 
sail from Boston, February 13th, 1778. After a 
perilous voyage, during which he was chased by 
a British frigate, and encountered a severe storm 
in the Gulf Stream, he arrived in France the 8th 
of April. He found the work for which he had 


JOHN ADAMS. 


87 


been sent, already accomplished. The French 
people were friendly to our government and 
believed the war would soon close. Mr. Adams 
returned to the United States, after an absence 
of about seventeen months. 

Two days after his arrival home he was 
elected a delegate to a convention to frame a 
new constitution for Massachusetts, by the peo¬ 
ple of his native town of Braintree. Of this 
assembly, Mr. Adams was the chief spirit, and 
with great skill, reconciled the interests of various 
factions. This convention immediately declared 
its purposes in two resolutions, as follows: first, 
“To establish a free republic;” second, “To or¬ 
ganize the government of a people by fixed 
laws of their own making.” 

Before this convention had completed its work, 
Congress appointed Mr. Adams to negotiate 
treaties of peace and commerce with Great 
Britain. He set sail for Europe, November 13th, 
1779, and arrived at Paris, February 5th, 1780. 
But being unable to agree with Count de Ver- 
gennes, he accomplished but little, and soon went 
to Holland, where he negotiated a treaty of 
commerce and amity, which proved to be of 
lasting benefit to the United States. Mr. Adams 
always regarded this treaty as one of the greatest 
of his public works; nor did he wrongly esti¬ 
mate its value, for by it we had secured the 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


friendship and assistance of France, Spain and 
Holland. Mr. Adams negotiated a loan of Hol¬ 
land that greatly relieved the financial distress 
of the United States. While in that country he 
wrote twenty-six letters upon the Revolution in 
America, which were published in the Leyden 
“Gazette,” and are published in his works by 
his grand-son. In October, 1782, he returned to 
France, and joined the American and British 
Commissioners. They finally agreed upon a 
treaty of peace, and signed it at Paris, Septem¬ 
ber 3d, 1783. In a correspondence with Fred¬ 
erick the Second, of Prussia, Mr. Adams 
arranged for a treaty between that power and 
the United States. Upon the 30th of August, 
1784, Mr. Adams met Thomas Jefferson and Dr. 
Franklin in Paris. They had been authorized to 
make treaties with any of the European govern¬ 
ments that desired. They soon completed the 
treaty with Prussia that Mr. Adams had under 
consideration. Treaties were also made by these 
Commissioners with Denmark and Tuscany. 
There being nothing more to be effected by this 
Commission in that direction, Congress appoint¬ 
ed Mr. Adams our first Minister to England, 
February 24th, 1785, whither he went in the 
following May. This was a very responsible 
position, and could not have been more fitly 
bestowed. Mr. Adams understood the require- 


JOHN ADAMS. 


89 


ments of his mission, and was capable to dis¬ 
charge its many delicate and important obliga¬ 
tions. Mr. Adams, having carefully informed 
himself upon the court etiquette,—a prominent 
feature of which was to make three low bows 
—one at the entrance, one after taking two 
steps, and one when he stood before the King, 
was escorted into the presence of the King and 
his Secretary of State. With a voice tremulous 
with emotion, which the occasion was well cal¬ 
culated to inspire, he addressed his Majesty as 
follows:—“Sire, the United States of America 
have appointed me as their Minister Plenipoten¬ 
tiary to your Majesty, and have directed me to 
deliver to your Majesty this letter, which con¬ 
tains the evidence of it. It is in obedience to 
their express commands that I have the honor to 
assure your Majesty of their unanimous disposi¬ 
tion and desire to cultivate, the most friendly and 
liberal intercourse between your Majesty’s sub¬ 
jects and their citizens, and of their best wishes 
for your Majesty’s health and for that of the 
royal family. 

“The appointment of a Minister from the 
United States to your Majesty’s Court will form 
an epoch in the history of England and America. 
I think myself more fortunate than all my fellow- 
citizens in having the distinguished honor to be 
the first to stand in your Majesty’s royal pres- 


7 


9 ° 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


ence in a diplomatic character; and I shall 
esteem myself the happiest of men if I can be 
instrumental in recommending my country more 
and more to your Majesty’s royal benevolence, 
and of restoring the entire esteem, confidence, 
and affection, or, in better words, the old good¬ 
nature and the old harmony between people, 
who, though separated by an ocean, and under 
different governments, have the same language, a 
similar religion, and kindred blood. I beg your 
Majesty’s permission to add, that although, I 
have sometimes before been intrusted by my 
country, it was never, in my whole life, in a man¬ 
ner so agreeable to myself.” 

This was an hour of deep humiliation for the 
proud spirit of King George III. With a voice 
even more tremulous than Mr. Adams’s, he re¬ 
plied:—“Sir, the circumstances of this audience 
are so extraordinary, the language you have 
now held is so extremely proper, and the feelings 
you have discovered, so justly adapted to the 
occasion, that I must say that I not only receive 
with pleasure the assurance of the friendly dis¬ 
position of the people of the United States, but 
that I am very glad that the choice has fallen 
upon you as their Minister. But I wish you, sir, 
to believe, and that it may be understood in 
America, that I have done nothing in the late 
contest, but what I thought myself indispensably 


JOHN ADAMS. 


9 1 


bound to do by the duty which I owed to my 
people. I will be frank with you. I was the 
last to conform to the separation; but the sepa¬ 
ration having been made, and having become 
inevitable, I have always said, as I say now, 
that I would be the first to meet the friendship 
of the United States as an independent power. 
The moment I see such sentiments and lan¬ 
guage as yours prevail, and a disposition to give 
this country the preference, that moment I shall 
say, Let the circumstances of language, religion, 
and blood have their full effect.” 

Congress had empowered Mr. Adams to make 
a treaty of commerce with Great Britain, but 
he could do nothing. The obstinate govern¬ 
ment of England was not disposed to treat the 
recent rebels in such an amicable manner. The 
English people, in common with most Europeans, 
except the French, doubted the perpetuity of 
American institutions, and believed they would 
share the fate of the Republics of antiquity. 
Our people and our institutions were much re¬ 
vered and esteemed by the French patriots. The 
success of Republicanism in America was one 
of the causes that precipitated the French Revo¬ 
lution. 

In 1787, while in England, Mr.. Adams wrote 
his work of three volumes, entitled “A Defense 
of American Constitutions.” Its object was to 


9 2 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


counteract the influence of M. Turgot and Dr. 
Price. Notwithstanding its hasty preparation, 
amidst a multitude of other duties, and conse¬ 
quently, an uncareful revision ot the subject, its 
influence was true to its intent, and proved of 
much value to the American cause. The first 
volume was distributed throughout the United 
States prior to the Constitutional Convention of 
1787, and, no doubt, influenced the deliberations 
of that body. Mr. Adams started home April 
12th, 1788. Upon his arrival in the United States 
he found the people agitated over the adoption 
of a constitution, which was finally accomplished, 
and went into operation March 4th, 1789. 

Mr. Adams was chosen first Vice-President of 
the United States, along with Washington as 
President. He received thirty-four electoral 
votes. He was re-elected at the expiration of 
his term and served another four years with 
Washington. Mr. Adams discharged the duties 
of this high position with dignity that reflected 
credit upon himself and the country. During 
the eight years of his continuance in this office 
he cast the deciding vote no less than twenty 
times, frequently giving reasons for his opinions. 
As he was the first occupant of this place it was 
necessary for him to lay down some prece¬ 
dents by which the Senate in the future would 
be more or less governed. Mr. Adams gave a 


JOHN ADAMS. 


93 


hearty support to Washington’s administration. 
He became identified with the Federalists as 
one of their leaders. They were opposed by 
the Republican Democratic party, led by Jef¬ 
ferson and Madison. After a bitter contest Mr. 
Adams was chosen to the first place in the land 
and was the immediate successor of Washing¬ 
ton. Mr. Jefferson was elected Vice-President. 
The electoral vote stood as follows: Adams 71, 
Jefferson 68. 

Upon the 4th of March, 1797, when in the 
sixty-second year of his age, Mr. Adams ap¬ 
peared in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, 
dressed in a full suit of pearl-colored broadcloth 
and with powdered hair, took the oath of office, 
which was administered by Chief Justice Ells¬ 
worth. Coming into power as the candidate of 
the Federalist party, he was pledged to carry 
out the same general policy that Washington 
had inaugurated, and therefore, retained the cab¬ 
inet of his illustrious predecessor, which was 
composed of Timothy Pickering, Secretary of 
State; Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of Treasury; 
James McHenry, Secretary of War; and Charles 
Lee, Attorney General. 

At this time the Government was embarrassed 
both at home and abroad. It seemed as though 
the trouble with France would ripen into a 
foreign war. This led President Adams to con- 


94 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


vene an extra session of Congress, which met 
upon the 15th of May, 1797. With the concur¬ 
rence of the Senate the President appointed, in 
July, three envoys to France, viz: Charles C. 
Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry, 
who were clothed with power to adjust all dif¬ 
ficulties. The French Directory refused to treat 
with them unless they would pay into the French 
treasury, a large sum of money. This led Pinck¬ 
ney to utter his memorable expression, “ Mil¬ 
lions for defence , but not one cent for tribute .” 
Being unable to accomplish any thing they re¬ 
turned home. The French Minister to our 
government had also grossly insulted it. Upon 
the meeting of Congress in December of 1797, 
it being apparent that further negotiations with 
France were useless, the government and the 
country at large began to prepare for war. It 
was voted, in May, 1798, that a standing army 
of considerable size be raised. And in the July 
following, General George Washington was ap¬ 
pointed Commander-in-chief. A navy was also 
created with Benjamin Stoddart at its head, and 
although no formal declaration of war was made, 
yet depredations were committed by both nations 
upon the commerce of the other. The decided 
measures taken by our government caused the 
French Directory to negotiate for peace. This 
led President Adams, February 26th, 1799, to 


JOHN ADAMS. 


95 


appoint three embassadors to that government. 
The persons appointed were W. V. Murray, 
Oliver Ellsworth, and Patrick Henry, the latter 
declining, the vacancy was filled by William R. 
Davis, of North Carolina. When they arrived 
in France the Directory had been abolished and 
Napoleon Bonaparte ruled as first Consul. It 
was by his exertions that France was saved from 
immediate anarchy. Pie willingly received the 
American Commissioners and concluded a treaty 
of peace with our government September 30th, 
1800. 

In 1798, there were two unpopular regulations 
adopted by Congress, namely the Alien and Se¬ 
dition laws. The first of these gave the Presi¬ 
dent power to expel any alien resident from our 
country who should be suspected of conspiring 
against it. The reason given for its adoption 
was, because of the estimate that there were 
more than 30,000 Frenchmen in the country all 
of whom were devoted to their native country, 
and were mostly associated by clubs or otherwise. 
Beside these there were 50,000 Englishmen in 
the United States who found it unsafe to remain 
at home. The Sedition laws authorized the sup¬ 
pression of libelous publications censuring Con¬ 
gress, the President or the government, and 
provided for the punishment of its violators by 
fine or imprisonment. These two laws excited 


9 6 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


great opposition to the administration. The 
legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia pronounced 
them clearly unconstitutional. This antagonism 
led to their repeal. 

Upon the 14th of December, 1799, occurred 
the death of Washington. This was a national 
bereavement v and awakened universal sorrow 
both at home and abroad. Lowell very justly 
said of him:—“Broad-minded, high-souled, there 
is but one, who was all this, and ours, and all 
men’s, Washington.” 

After the conclusion of peace the remainder of 
Adams’s administration was peaceful and of no 
political importance. During the summer of 
1800 the Capital was removed from Philadelphia 
to the city of Washington, upon the Potomac, 
in the District of Columbia. This district was a 
tract of land lying partially upon both sides of 
the river, which had been ceded by the states of 
Maryland and Virginia for this purpose. The 
city of Washington was laid out in 1791 and the 
erection of the Capitol was commenced in 1793,the 
corner-stone being laid by General Washington 
upon the 18th of April. 

In May of 1800, the Mississippi Territory was 
organized. This tract comprised the lands lying 
between the Western frontiers of Georgia and the 
Mississippi River. In the year of 1800 the 
second enumeration, by national anthority, of our 


JOHN ADAMS. 


97 


inhabitants was made. It showed the population 
of the United States to be 5,319,762, an increase 
of 1,400,000 over the enumeration of 1790. The 
national revenue in 1790 was $4,771,000, but by 
1800 this had been increased to nearly $13,000,000. 
The political contest between the Federalists and 
the Republicans for the succession to power was 
exceedingly bitter. The candidates of the Feder¬ 
alist party were John Adams and Charles Cotes- 
worth Pinckney, while those of the Republican 
were Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The 
election resulted, owing to the unpopularity of 
the Alien and Sedition laws, a division among 
the Federal leaders, and a rapid development 
among people of extreme democratic views, in a 
republican triumph. Jefferson and Burr receiv¬ 
ing the same number of electoral votes, the choice 
of President devolved upon the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives by which Jefferson was, after thirty- 
five ballotings, chosen. Aaron Burr became 
Vice-President. President Adams was so 
chagrined and humiliated at his defeat, that he 
would not remain to witness the inaugural cer¬ 
emonies of his victorious rival. Adams and Jef¬ 
ferson, though companions in the Revolutionary 
Era, and warm friends earlier in life, had become 
alienated by the political rancor of Washington’s 
and Adams’s administrations, and their friend¬ 
ship was superseded by personal and political 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


98 

animosities. This ill feeling was ultimately 
healed and for several years previous to their 
death they engaged in a friendly correspondence. 

Mr. Adams, upon quitting the Presidency, re¬ 
tired to his farm home at Braintree, Massachu¬ 
setts, and there quietly spent the remaining 
quarter-century of his life. He read much, re¬ 
viewing his theological studies. He was a 
member of the Unitarian church of his native 
town and lived in the true Christian spirit. 
Though Adams and Jefferson differed very 
materially in their political opinions, they nearly 
agreed in their religious convictions. 

Mr. Adams witnessed the rise of his son, John 
Quincy, in the esteem and confidence of his 
countrymen, with much pleasure. At the time 
of the death of Mr. Adams, his son was the 
President of the country that he had done so 
much to establish. Throughout the remainder 
of his life, Mr. Adams took great interest in pub¬ 
lic affairs. Pie supported the War policy of 
President Madison’s administration. November 
15th, 1815, Mr. Adams was elected by Braintree, 
a delegate to a State Convention, to remodel the 
Constitution of Massachusetts, which he had 
been so instrumental in framing nearly forty 
years before. It was gratifying to him to know 
that scarcely a change was needed save what 
were necessary to meet the demands of the ad- 


JOHN ADAMS. 


99 


vance in wealth and population. In 1820, when 
eighty-seven years old, he served as a presiden¬ 
tial elector for Massachusetts. 

October 28th, 1818, his wife with whom he 
had lived in great peace, died. This event greatly 
disturbed the tranquility of his remaining years. 
Ex-President John Adams’s long patriotic life 
was drawing near to a close. One thing gave 
him great satisfaction, — the Nation’s recogni¬ 
tion of his fast rising son, served as a solace to 
him in his declining years. The 4th of July, 
1826, came to a peaceful prosperous Nation. 
The noise of the rejoicing of millions welcomed 
that natal day. Mr. Adams’s enfeebled powers 
showed the ravages of years. It was thought to 
have Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson meet on the 
day of the semi-centennial of the Nation’s exist¬ 
ence, but such, owing to their health, was im¬ 
possible. On the morning of the 30th of June, 
a gentleman called upon Mr. Adams to obtain 
a toast to be presented the 4th of July. “I give 
you,” said he, “Independence forever .” One 
hour after the “Sage at Monticello” had passed 
away, Mr. Adams left the scenes of earth. He 
supposed that Jefferson was still living and his 
last words were: “Thomas Jefferson still sur¬ 
vives.” He lies entombed beneath the Unitar¬ 
ian church, at Braintree, Massachusetts. 

Upon the 2d of August, 1826, Daniel Webster 


IOO 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


delivered a eulogy on the death of Adams and 
Jefferson in Faneuil Hall, Boston, from which the 
following are extracts: 66 Adams and Jefferson 
are no more; and we are assembled, fellow-citi¬ 
zens, the aged, the middle-aged, and the young, 
by the spontaneous impulse of all, under the 
authority of the municipal government, with the 
presence of the chief magistrate of the Common¬ 
wealth, and others of its official representatives, 
the university, and the learned societies, to bear 
our part in these manifestations of respect and 
gratitude, which universally pervade the land. 
Adams and Jefferson are no more. On our 
fiftieth anniversary, the great national jubilee, 
in the very hour of public rejoicing, in the midst 
of echoing and re-echoing voices of thanksgiv¬ 
ing, while their own names were on all tongues, 
they took their flight together to the world of 
spirits. Their fame, indeed, is safe. That is now 
treasured up beyond the reach of accident. Al¬ 
though no sculptured marble should rise to their 
memory, nor engraved stone bear record to their 
deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting as 
the land they honored. Marble columns may, 
indeed, moulder into dust, time may erase all im¬ 
press from the crumbling stone, but their fame 
remains; for with American liberty it rose, and 
with American liberty only can it perish. It was 
the last swelling peal of yonder choir — 6 Their 


JOHN ADAMS. 


IOI 


bodies are buried in peace, but their name liveth 
ever moreV I catch that solemn song, I echo 
that lofty strain of funeral triumph! ‘ Their name 
liveth ever more? ” Mr Jefferson once said of 
John Adams, “a more honest man never issued 
from the hands of his Creator.” We may search 
in vain for a name, save that of Washington’s, to 
which America is more indebted for the institu¬ 
tions that form her power and glory. 



102 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Chapter III. 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



'homas Jefferson, author of the Dec¬ 
laration of Independence , and third 
President of the United States, was born 
at Shadwell, Albemarle county, Virginia, April 
13th, 1743. The family from which he came 
was one of first rank in Colonial society, and had 
lived in Virginia for several generations prior to 
his birth. 

The settlement of Virginia was begun in 1607. 
The Jefifersons were among the earliest emigrants. 
They came originally from Wales, where they 
occupied a good place in society, and were dis¬ 
tinguished for force of character, and correctness 
of purpose. 

Peter Jefferson, the father of the President, 
was born upon the 29th of February, 1708. His 
youth was deprived of many of the advantages 
of an education, but, he remedied the defects to 
a great extent in after years. He was a lover of 
literature, and read many of the ancient poets 
with pleasure. He did considerable work as a 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. I03 

surveyor, and in patented, as it was called 

at that time, a thousand acres of land, which was 
afterwards the seat of Monticello. He was mar¬ 
ried in 1738 to Jane Randolph, of one of the 
best families of the Colony. Of this union came 
nine children. Thomas, the subject of this 
sketch, was the third. 

Jefferson had many facilities for obtaining an 
education, from his earliest childhood. He in¬ 
herited many mental capabilities. Evidences are 
recorded of his extreme retentive memory of 
incidents when he was but a child of two or 
three years of age. He was placed in an Eng¬ 
lish school at the age of five, where he made 
rapid advancement. He also learned much, un¬ 
consciously, from his educated surroundings. 
When nine years old he was placed under the 
instruction of Rev. Mr. Douglas. At this early 
age he began the study of Latin and Greek, in 
which he became so proficient. He was also 
well versed in Spanish, French, German, and 
Anglo-Saxon. 

Jefferson’s father died and left him at the age 
of fourteen, reliant upon the care of his mother 
for advice and instructions. He left the request 
that Thomas should be continued in school. In 
deference to this he was sent to William and 
Mary College in 1760, and remained there two 
years. His father had once been a professor of 


104 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

mathematics in this institution. This College was 
located at Williamsburg, then the Capital of the 
Colony of Virginia, and the center of political 
and intellectual life. Jefferson was a hard-work¬ 
ing student and studied fifteen hours per day. 
He was about equally fond of mathematics and 
classics, both of which he studied throughout life. 
He won the personal interest of Dr. Small, his 
professor in mathematics, who secured for him a 
position in the law office of George Wythe. Mr. 
Wythe was one of the most eminent of Virginia 
lawyers. Under his careful direction Mr. Jeffer¬ 
son remained for five years, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1767, at the age of twenty-four years. 

Jefferson’s life was much influenced by the 
great men with whom he was associated in his' 
youth. While at Williamsburg, he became the 
personal friend of Governor Fauquier, a man of 
great social and intellectual merit. Of these as¬ 
sociations he wrote to a young relative, late in 
life, as follows: “I had the good fortune to be¬ 
come acquainted very early, with some characters 
of very high standing, and to feel the incessant 
wish that I could ever become what they were. 
Under temptations and difficulties, I would ask 
myself: What would Dr. Small, Mr. Wythe, or 
Peyton Randolph do in this situation? What 
course in it will insure me their approbation? I 
am certain that this mode of deciding on my con- 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


IQ 5 

duct, tended more to correctness than any rea¬ 
soning powers I possessed. Knowing the even 
and dignified line they pursued, I could never 
doubt for a moment which of two courses would 
be in character for them.” * * * “Be as¬ 

sured, my friend, that these little returns into our¬ 
selves, this self-catechising habit, is not trifling 
nor useless, but leads to the prudent selection 
and steady pursuit of what is right.” In the 
same letter he says: “I was often thrown into 
the society of horse-racers, card-players, fox- 
hunters, scientific and professional men, and of 
dignified men; and many a time have I asked 
myself in the enthusiastic moment of the death 
of a fox, the victory of a favorite horse, the issue 
of a question eloquently argued at the bar, or in 
the great council of the nation: Well, which 
of these kind of reputations shall I prefer? That 
of a horse-jockey, an orator, or the honest advo¬ 
cate of my country’s rights?” Mr. Jefferson said 
in his memoirs, when speaking of the society of 
Governor Fauquier, Dr. Small and others, “To 
these habitual conversations he owed much in¬ 
struction.” 

Jefferson loved the various sports and delighted 
in dancing and music, but was passionately fond 
of books, and had the wisdom and will-power to 
give -himself to incessant study, and by hard 
work reached the high station in life which he 


8 


io 6 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


attained. He adopted none of the vices of the 
Virginia gentry, but kept himself free from all 
immoderate indulgences, such as gambling, pro¬ 
fanity, tobacco and strong drink. Against the 
latter he had a particular dislike, even at the table. 
Later in life when President he said: “The -habit 
of intemperance by men in office has occasioned 
more injury to the public, and more trouble to 
me, than all other causes; and were I.t° com¬ 
mence my administration again, the first question 
I would ask respecting a candidate for office, 
would be, does he use ardent spirits?” 

Mr. Jefferson was tall and slender, reaching 
the height of six feet and one inch, of fair com¬ 
plexion, and possessed angular features, far from 
beautiful, but beaming with intelligence and tes¬ 
timony of the cheerfulness of his soul. Mr. Jef¬ 
ferson was, indeed, an accomplished man. Parton 
says of his education:—“Of all the public men 
who have figured in the United States, he was 
the best scholar and the most variously accom¬ 
plished man.” Because of his talents, he was 
styled the “Sage of Monticello.” 

Once, while on his way to college, he met 
Patrick Henry, who was then a without-business- 
sporting-man. Jefferson and Henry were far 
different men, but strikingly similar in some re¬ 
spects. From the time of their first meeting, 
there arose a friendship which was life-long. 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


I07 

When Mr. Jefferson was admitted to the bar, 
in 1767, he was so well prepared that he entered 
immediately upon considerable practice; his gooc^ 
legal mind, his inherited fortune, his personal 
bearing, and his connection with some of Vir¬ 
ginia’s best families, brought him plenty of busi¬ 
ness. His register of cases shows the following 
record: sixty-eight in 1767; one hundred and 
fifteen in 1768; one hundred and ninety-eight in 
1769; one hundred and twenty-one in 1770; one 
hundred and thirty-seven in 1771; one hundred 
and fifty-fonr in 1772; one hundred and twenty- 
seven in 1773; twenty-nine in 1774. The pro¬ 
gress of his business was doubtless disturbed by 
the troublesome times. These numbers were his 
cases in the General Court. He also had much 
other legal business. 

It is obvious that Jefferson studied the impor¬ 
tance of little matters with much interest. His 
mind was given to the observations of details; he 
noted separately his expenses for bread, meat, etc. 
During the entire eight years of his Presidency, 
he kept notes of the earliest and latest appear¬ 
ance of thirty-seven kinds of vegetables. His 
garden-book, his farm-book, his weather reports, 
his notes on Virginia, on natural history, and on 
legal learning, all gave evidence of the wonder¬ 
ful minuteness with which his mind could class¬ 
ify, and show the amount of labor he was will- 


io8 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


ing to perform in order to acquire such records. 
Had it not been for a fire that destroyed his li¬ 
brary and record books, he would, no doubt, 
have left a history of all the minor transactions ol 
his life. 

In 1769 Mr. Jefferson was elected to the Vir¬ 
ginia House of Burgesses. Lord Botetourt had 
become Governor of the Colony. This body 
passed resolutions protesting against the oppres¬ 
sion of Massachusetts, their sister Colony, by 
the Government. They asserted their exclusive 
rights to the power of taxation, claimed the right 
of petition, the association of the Colonies in these 
petitions, and of protest against the removal of 
persons of the Colonies charged with treason, to 
England for trial. ' The Governor, upon hearing 
of this action, without waiting for an official state¬ 
ment, immediately dissolved the Assembly. But 
the patriot members re-assembled the following 
day in another hall and pledged themselves to ab¬ 
stain from the use of British merchandise during 
the continuance of the unjust revenue laws. Dur¬ 
ing all these movements, Mr. Jefferson was a 
flaming patriot. 

Mr. Jefferson was one of the largest slave 
owners in Virginia, but one of the earliest rtiove- 
ments he made as a legislator, was to submit a 
proposition for the gradual emancipation of the 
slaves. He regarded slavery as inhuman, barbar- 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. IO9 

ous and impolitic, and was supported in his belief 
by Washington and many of the great minds of 
Virginia. His proposition, however, was voted 
down. 

Although a good conversationalist, Mr. Jeffer¬ 
son was not a fluent speaker. His power was 
with his pen, and not his tongue. It is seldom that 
wonderful power as an author and as an orator 
are found in the same individual. The two 
faculties depend upon an entirely different organ¬ 
ization of the mind. Power as an author and as 
orator were never more strikingly contrasted than 
in Mr. Jefferson and his personal friend Patrick 
Henry. Jefferson’s mind was exactly suited to 
the deliberative work of an author. In addition 
to the want of remarkable mental power as a 
public speaker, it is said he had a defect in his 
vocal organs, through which, after speaking a 
short time, his voice would become husky and 
painful to himself and auditors. 

February 1st, 1770, a fire consumed his house 
at Shadwell, and all his books and papers, which 
gave him much cause for regret. Jefferson said: 
“Had it been their cost value in money, it would 
not have cost me a sigh.” Nothing was saved 
from destruction but his fiddle, of which he was 
passionately fond. He was an excellent bass 
singer and during his youth assisted much in 
the music of the Episcopalian Church, of which 
his parents were members. 


IIO 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


On New Year’s Day, 1772, Mr. Jefferson was 
married to Mrs. Martha Skelton, the young 
widow of Bathurst Skelton, and daughter of John 
Wayles, a lawyer of eminence in his locality and 
time. She is represented to have been a lady 
of fine accomplishments, a good singer and player 
upon the spinet and harpsichord. Their married 
life was almost bliss. Mr. Jefferson, previous to 
his marriage, was in good circumstances. He 
owned 5,000 acres of land and forty-two slaves. 
His wife brought him 40,000 acres and one hun¬ 
dred and thirty-five slaves. Much of her land 
was encumbered and he was compelled to sell a 
portion of it to rid the remainder of liens. 

It is strange that the aristocracy of Virginia 
should beget such democratic spirits as Wash¬ 
ington, Jefferson, and other Revolutionary patri¬ 
ots, but such is the case. Jefferson was called 
the philosopher, and had his philosophy of the 
gradual emancipation of the slaves been accepted, 
more than half a century of sectional strife would 
have been prevented; the country saved from 
much bitter and prolonged agitation; and the 
South would have made a steady, natural growth 
instead of being devastated by Civil War. 

The Virginia House of Burgesses met in the 
spring of 1773, and at once took into considera¬ 
tion the affair of the destruction of the Gasper 
in Narragansett Bay. This ship was there to 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


Ill 


enforce the British revenue laws, and had been 
destroyed. This led Parliament to enact, that, 
any injury done to His Majesty’s ships or docks, 
should be punishable with death, and a person 
charged with such offense, might be removed 
beyond the seas for trial. Mr. Jefferson, with 
his brother-in-law Mr. Carr, the Lees, and Patrick 
Henry, formulated and secured the passage of 
resolutions protesting against the pretended right 
of England to transport Colonists to that country 
for trial, and, the appointment of a committee 
empowered to correspond with the other Colonial 
Assemblies, requesting them to appoint similar 
committees of correspondence. Jefferson re¬ 
garded this act as the germ of the Colonial union. 
The Governor dissolved the Assembly, but its 
members met upon the following day in another 
part of the city. 

In 1774 the Virginia House of Burgesses had 
to consider the tyranny of the Boston Port Bill. 
Mr. Jefferson said: “If the pulse of the people 
beat calmly under such an experiment by the 
new, and until now, unheard of executive power 
of the British Parliament, another and another 
will be tried, till the measure of despotism be 
filled up.” Jefferson, and a few of his ardently 
patriotic colleagues, agreed upon a resolution for 
a day of fasting and prayer, in order to develop 
an enthusiastic feeling among the people. After 


112 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


consulting with the older members, the resolution 
was passed without a dissenting vote, and as the 
first of June was the day the Boston Port Bill 
was to go into operation, that was selected as the 
day of fasting and prayer. The Assembly was 
again dissolved by the Governor, but it met at 
Apollo Hall and continued its patriotic work. It 
called a convention to meet August ist, to elect 
delegates to the Colonial Congress if its meeting 
should be agreed to by the other colonies. The 
first of June was universally observed throughout 
the Colony, as a day of prayer for their Boston 
brethren. The clergy everywhere conducted re¬ 
ligious services. Of it Mr. Jefferson said: “The 
effect of the day through the whole Colony .was 
like a shock of electricity, arousing every man 
and placing him erect and solidly on his center.” 

Mr. Jefferson was detained at home by sick¬ 
ness, and was unable to attend the August con¬ 
vention, but sent to it a lengthy document, which 
Edmund Burke styled, “A Summary View of the 
Rights of British America.” It was a bold and 
uncompromising enunciation of the political ties 
that bound the North American Colonies to their 
parent state England. It contained most of the 
statements that he afterwards inserted in the 
Declaration of Independence. It was probably 
more radical than anything ever uttered by 
Henry, Otis, or Adams. In it he said: “The God 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


IT 3 


who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same 
time; the hand of force may destroy but cannot 
disjoin them.” 

Upon the 20th of March, 1775, there met at 
Richmond, Virginia, a second convention. It 
contained many of the leading spirits of that 
Colony, and was one of the greatest conventions 
ever held upon the Continent. It was during the 
deliberations of this assembly, that Henry uttered 
one of the famous speeches that have so immor¬ 
talized his name. The convention was composed 
of Conservatives and Radicals. Mr. Henry moved 
that the Colony should be placed in a state of 
defense, and a committee be appointed to pre¬ 
pare the necessary plans. It was in support of 
this resolution that he made his masterly effort. 
He said: “ War is inevitable; we must fight” 
Jefferson’s biographer, Randall, gives this de¬ 
scription of the scene, as told him by a Baptist 
clergyman present upon that occasion: “Henry 
rose with an unearthly fire burning in his eye. 
He commenced somewhat calmly — but the 
smothered excitement began more and more to 
play upon his features and thrill in the tones of 
his voice. The tendons of his neck stood out 
white and rigid, dike whipcord.’ His voice rose 
louder and louder, until the walls of the building 
and all within them seemed to shake and rock in 
its tremendous vibrations. Finally his pale face 


114 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


and glaring eye became terrible to look upon. 
Men leaned forward in their seats with their 
heads strained forward, their faces pale, and their 
eyes glaring like the speakers. His last exclam¬ 
ation: ‘ Give me liberty or give me death] was 
like the shout of a leader which turns back the 
rout of battle! When Henry sat down every 
eye gazed entranced upon him. It seemed as if 
a word from him would have led to any wild ex¬ 
plosion of violence. Men looked beside them¬ 
selves.” Wirt in his account of this scene says: 
“Richard H. Lee arose and supported Mr. Henry 
with his usual spirit and elegance. But his 
melody was lost amid the agitations of that ocean 
which the master spirit of the storm had lifted 
upon high. That supernatural voice still sounded 
in their ears and shivered along their arteries. 
They heard in every pause the cry of liberty or 
death! They became impatient of speech. 
Their souls were on fire for action.” Jefferson 
was a delegate to this convention from his county, 
and supported Henry’s war-like resolution, which 
was adopted by a large majority. Mr. Jefferson, 
George Washington, Patrick Henry, and others 
were appointed as a committee to draft the plans 
for defending the Colony. They reported a plan 
upon the 25th of March, which was adopted by 
the convention. This convention elected Thomas 
Jefferson a delegate to the Continental Congress 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 115 

to succeed Mr. Peyton Randolph, who was about 
to retire on account of ill health. 

The Virginia House of Burgesses met upon 
the 1st of June, 1775, to consider Lord North’s 
“Conciliatory Proposition.” Mr. Jefferson was 
selected to draft the answer. This document 
takes rank as one of the greatest of State papers, 
and was radical in the extreme. 

June 21 st, 1775 ? Mr. Jefferson appeared in the 
Colonial Congress, when but a little more than 
thirty-two years of age. His fame as a cham¬ 
pion of patriot rights had gone before him. Mr. 
Adams said of him: “Mr. Jefferson had the repu¬ 
tation of a masterly pen; he brought with him 
a reputation for literature, science, and a happy 
talent for composition.” He says of him as a 
member,—“Though a silent member in Congress, 
he was so prompt, frank, explicit and decisive 
upon committees and in conversation—not even 
Samuel Adams was more so—that he seized up¬ 
on my heart.” Five days after entering, Mr. 
Jefferson was appointed upon a committee to 
draft a declaration of causes why arms had been 
taken up. He prepared a paper so radical as to 
be disapproved by one of his colleagues, Mr. 
Dickinson, who changed a part of it. On the 
22d of July, when Congress came to consider 
the “Conciliatory Proposition” of Lord North, 
Mr. Jefferson was designated to frame a reply. 


II6 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

Although a radical and determined patriot, Mr. 
Jefferson entertained a proper respect for British 
authority. He hoped the difficulties between the 
mother country and the Colonies would soon be 
adjusted so as to preclude the necessity of a com¬ 
plete separation. These hopes were all dispelled, 
when upon the 9th of November, 1775, Congress 
received information from Arthur Lee and Rich¬ 
ard Penn, who had been sent to carry a second 
petition to the King, that it would not receive an 
answer. In the autumn of 1775, Jefferson wrote 
to Mr. Randolph who had sided with Great 
Britain and was about to set sail for England, as 
follows: “I am sincerely one of those who still 
wish for reunion with the parent country; and 
would rather be in dependence on Great Britain, 
properly limited, than on any nation upon earth, 
or than on no nation. But I am one of those, 
too, who, rather than submit to the rights of legis¬ 
lating for us, assumed by the British Parliament, 
and which late experience has shown they will 
so cruelly exercise, would lend my hand to sink 
the whole island in the ocean.” A few months 
after this, aroused by the ferocious actions of the 
British Ministry, he wrote to the same man in 
England: “Believe me, dear sir, there is not in 
the British Empire a man who more cordially 
loves a union with Great Britain than I do, but, 
by the God that made me, I will cease to exist 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 117 

before I yield to a connection on such terms as 
the British Parliament propose; and in this I think 
I speak the sentiments of America.” 

England’s indisposition to recognize the peti¬ 
tions of the Colonists, and her determination to 
force them to submission, made the prospect of 
conciliation dark and unhopeful, and compelled 
Congress to adopt the Declaration of Independ¬ 
ence, On Friday, June 7, 1776, Richard Henry 
Lee, a member of the Congress from Virginia, 
moved that, u The United Colonies are, and of 
right ought to be, free and independent states y 
that they are absolved from all allegiance to 
the British Crown, and that all political con¬ 
nection between them and the state of Great 
Britain is, aud ought to be, totally dissolved .” 
This resolution was debated in Congress upon 
the 8th and ioth of this month, and finally post¬ 
poned to the 1st of July. On the nth of June a 
committee of five members was selected by 
ballot, to draft a Declaration of Independence. 
Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Frank¬ 
lin, Roger Sherman, and Robert A. Livingston 
were chosen. Mr. Jefferson received the most 
votes and was considered chairman. To his pen 
was assigned the task of writing the instrument, 
after a friendly contention, between Mr. Jefferson 
and Adams, respecting which should make the 
draft, closed by Mr. Adams saying: “I will not 


Il8 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

do it; you must. There are three good reasons 
why you should. First, you are a Virginian, and 
Virginia should take the lead in this business. 
Second, I am obnoxious, suspected, unpopular; 
you are the reverse. Third, you can write ten 
times better than I can.” “Well,” Jefferson 
answered, “if you insist upon it, I will do as well 
as I can. This document, slightly changed by 
Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams, was read to Con¬ 
gress on the 28th of June, again taken up the 2d 
of July and debated until the 4th, when it was 
adopted, omitting Jefferson’s just rebuke of slavery 
and censure of the people' of England, without 
the dissenting vote of a single Colony. During 
the three days of fiery debate preceding the adop¬ 
tion of Jefferson’s great document he maintained 
a perfect silence. It has been said: “John Adams 
was the great champion of Declaration on the 
floor, fighting fearlessly for every word of it, and 
with a power to which a mind masculine and im¬ 
passioned in its conceptions, a will of torrent-like 
force, a heroism which only glared forth more 
luridly at the approach of danger, and a patriotism 
whose burning throb was rather akin to the feel¬ 
ing of a parent fighting over his offspring than to 
the colder sentiment of tamer minds, lent resist¬ 
less sway.” 

JULY 4, 1776, the day the DECLARATION 
of INDEPENDENCE was given to the world, 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


II 9 

has become the most memorable of all days in 
American history. The War of the Revolution 
had been raging for more than a year. The 
Colonists had endured the oppression of the Brit¬ 
ish Crown until endurance had ceased to be a 
virtue. Many had been actuated by the hope 
that their wrongs would be redressed, and the 
mother country and her Colonies reconciled. But 
the course of events proved that reconciliation, 
other than an unconditional surrender of the rights 
and privileges dear to all men, was an impossibil¬ 
ity. Thus liberty was in a state of peril and the 
Declaration of Independence was but a submission 
on the part of the Colonists to the dictates of 
prudence and patriotism. It declared the causes 
which impelled them to a separation, and the new 
Republic took its place among the powers of the 
world, proclaiming its faith in the truth and reality 
of freedom. Astonished nations, as they read 
that “all men were created equal” started from 
out their lethargy. Some had an abiding faith 
in the future of the new Republic. Others 
thought its destinies were sealed by the conquer¬ 
ing powers of Great Britain. In America it 
everywhere awakened the warmest responses of 
approval. It was read to the army, spoken from 
the pulpits, and sounded through every legislative 
hall in the land. The shouts of the people, the 
ringing of bells, illuminations and booming of 


120 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


cannon proclaimed the glad news of liberty to all 
the land. This event marks an important epoch 
in the history of the world, and America has 
since exerted a well defined influence with every 
nation. 

Upon the day of the adoption of the Declara¬ 
tion of Independence, Mr. Jefferson, John Adams, 
and Dr. Franklin were appointed as a committee 
to design a seal and create a name for the newly 
born nation. 

It was now necessary to organize the state 
and local governments in conformity to the prin¬ 
ciples of this Declaration. Virginia society was 
an imitation of English. The Monarchial system 
prevailed in a greater degree in Virginia than in 
any of the other Colonies. This Colony was 
divided into landed estates which had descended, 
in conformity to the English laws of inheritance, 
exclusively to the eldest son. Jefferson declined 
an offered appointment as American Minister to 
France, in order that he might assist in the work 
of bringing about a complete transition to Re¬ 
publicanism. He was elected to the Virginia 
House of Burgesses, into which he introduced a 
multitude of bills. He succeeded in his work, 
being supported by its young members. In 1777 
he wrote to Dr. Franklin as follows: “With res¬ 
pect to Virginia. * * * The people seemed 

to have laid aside the Monarchial and taken up 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


I 2 T 


the Republican government with as much ease 
as would have attended their throwing off an old 
and putting on a new garment. Not a single 
throe has attended this important transformation. 
A half dozen aristocratic gentlemen, agonizing 
under the loss of pre-eminence, have sometimes 
ventured their sarcasm on our political metamor¬ 
phosis. They have been fitter objects of pity 
than of punishment.” 

June ist, % i779, Mr. Jefferson was elected Gov¬ 
ernor of Virginia as the successor of Patrick 
Henry. These two patriots were the first repub¬ 
lican governors of the state they had served so 
faithfully. Jefferson’s position was now a trying 
one; the British dogs of war were let loose upon 
his state. His lands and personal property were 
devastated, his stock and slaves were carried off, 
and still he labored with indefatigable zeal for the 
cause of liberty. At length Washington came 
with the Northern army, and the French with 
their ships. Cornwallis was penned up in York- 
town and forced to surrender. Thus ended, upon 
Virginia soil, the war that was commenced in 
Massachusetts. 

Upon the 5th of June, 1781, Jefferson was asso¬ 
ciated with Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Laurens, 
by Congress, to conclude the treaty of peace 
with Great Britain. The extreme illness of Mrs. 
Jefferson made it impossible for him to accept. 


9 


122 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


She had been declining for several years and 
finally died, September 6th, 1782, when in the 
35th year of her age. To their marriage had 
been born six children. Jefferson was a man full 
of tenderness of heart and deep regard for 
domestic affairs. His love for his wife was as 
true and great as love can be. His home with 
his books and family was to him the most sacred 
of places. He disliked public life and engaged in 
it only from a sense of patriotic duty.^ Upon the 
occasion of the death of his wife, his daughter, 
Mrs. Randolph, describes his conduct as follows: 
“For four months that she lingered, he was never 
out calling; when not at her bedside, he was 
writing in a small room which opened imme¬ 
diately at the head of her bed. A moment before 
the closing scene, he was led from the room 
almost in a state of insensibility by his sister, Mrs. 
Carr, who, with great difficulty, got him into his 
library, where he fainted and remained so long 
insensible that they feared he would never re¬ 
vive. The scene that followed I did not witness; 
but the violence of his emotion—when almost by 
stealth I entered his room at night—to this day I 
dare not trust myself to describe. He kept his 
room three weeks and I was never a moment 
from his side. He walked almost incessantly 
night and day, only lying down occasionally 
when nature was completely exhausted, on a 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


I2 3 


pallet that had been brought in during his’ long 
fainting fit. When at last he left his room, he 
rode out, and from that time he was almost inces¬ 
santly on horse back, rambling about the moun¬ 
tain in the least frequented roads, and just as 
often through the woods.” To illustrate the 
affection of Jefferson we give the following from 
his own pen: “When. Heaven has taken from us 
some object of our love, how sweet it is to have 
a bosom whereon to recline our heads, and into 
which we may pour the torrent of our tears.” 

After the close of the Revolution, statesman¬ 
ship was in large demand both in Congress and 
in state legislatures. Jefferson was made to bear 
his share of the burdens and was returned to 
Congress. He was the author of the Decimal 
System U. S. Money; he endeavored to organize 
the Northwest Territory, prohibiting slavery 
therein after the year 1800, and many other 
works of a beneficient character resulted from the 
efforts of Mr. Jefferson. 

On the 7th of May, 1784, Jefferson was ap¬ 
pointed Minister Plenipotentiary, with Mr. Adams 
and Dr. Franklin to negotiate treaties of com¬ 
merce with the different powers of Europe. He 
sailed from Boston July 5th, and after spending a 
few days in England, arrived in France on the 
6th of August. These embassadors soon com¬ 
pleted treaties with Frederick the Second of 


124 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Prussia, the governments of Denmark and Tus¬ 
cany, and, as nothing more effective could be 
accomplished, Mr. Jefferson returned to the United 
States. 

Upon March ioth, 1785, Mr. Jefferson was ap¬ 
pointed our minister to France, whither he went 
directly. lie succeeded Dr. Franklin, and alike 
that accomplished diplomat, was very popular 
with the French people and government. Count 
de Vergennes, upon the formation of the ac¬ 
quaintance of the new minister, said to him: 
“You replace Franklin, I hear.” “I succeed\ no 
one can replace him,” was the ready response of 
Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson was in France during 
the agitation that precipitated the French Revo¬ 
lution and was frequently counseled by the patri¬ 
ot leaders. On September 26, 1788, by permission 
from his government, he started home on a 
mission of private business. At this time he 
wrote of France: “I cannot leave this great and 
good country without expressing my sense of 
the pre-eminence of its character among the 
nations of the earth. A more benevolent people 
I have never known; nor greater warmth and 
devotedness in their select friendships. Their 
kindness and accommodation to strangers is un¬ 
paralleled, and the hospitality of Paris is beyond 
anything I had conceived to be practicable in a 
large city.” 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


I2 5 


After the close of the Revolution there arose 
two political parties. A portion of the people, 
under the leadership of Alexander Hamilton, 
John Jay, and John Adams, sympathizing with 
English society, constituted the Federalist party. 
Another element which had a dire hatred for 
England and all that was English, despising 
George III and the British Parliament as his tool, 
sympathizing with the French Revolution and 
with France in the European wars, was led by 
Jefferson and assisted by such characters as Ben¬ 
jamin Franklin, James Madison, Patrick Henry, 
and Edmund Randolph. They organized the 
Republican party of their time which became the 
Democratic party of to-day. The name Demo¬ 
crat was given to the party in derision. Jefferson 
held that the world was governed too much. 
The Constitution of the United States was a com¬ 
promise between the principles of the two parties, 
dictated mainly by Mr. Madison. 

Washington was elected by all parties and en¬ 
deavored to make his administration non-partisan, 
although he was of Federal tendencies. His first 
cabinet was composed of two Republicans, Mr. 
Jefferson, Secretary of State, and Edmund Ran¬ 
dolph, Attorney General, and two Federalists, 
Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, 
and Henry Knox, Secretary of War. Information 
of Jefferson’s appointment, (June 26, 1789) as a 


126 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


member of Washington’s cabinet reached him 
before his arrival at Monticello from France. 
The political views of Jefferson and Hamilton 
were irreconcilable. This alienation, which Wash- 
ington strove in vain to allay, made them personal 
enemies. This controversy was ended by Jef¬ 
ferson’s resignation, contrary to the expressed 
wishes of his chief, January 5th, 1794* Jefferson 
denounced Hamilton’s paper money scheme as 
demoralizing and predicted ruinous consequences. 
This money gave its author a temporary popu¬ 
larity, by rising in value 100 per cent. It soon 
fell to 25 per cent, below par. 

For three years subsequent to 1794 Jefferson 
lived in retirement at Monticello. He was the 
candidate of his party to be Washington’s suc¬ 
cessor. The electoral vote was for Adams, 71; 
Jefferson, 68. As Jefferson received the second 
vote he became Vice-President and was inaugu¬ 
rated March 4, 1797. 

The unpopularity of Adams’s administration 
caused him to be defeated in the election of 1800 
by Mr. Jefferson. Jefferson and Burr received 
an equal number of electoral votes and the elec¬ 
tion was referred to the House of Representatives 
for decision, which after thirty-five ballotings 
elected Jefferson President. Aaron Burr became 
Vice-President. They were inaugurated March 
4th, 1801. Jefferson rode unaccompanied down 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


I27 


to Congress, hitched his horse to a picket fence, 
went into the Congressional chamber and read 
his fifteen minute inaugural. Some of the sen¬ 
tences in this short memorable speech have passed 
into proverbs. The following extract from that 
address is as noble a sentiment as was ever uttered 
by one assuming power: “About to enter, fellow- 
citizens, on the exercise of duties which compre¬ 
hend everything dear and valuable to you, it is 
proper that you should understand what I deem 
the essential principles of our government, and 
consequently those which ought to shape its 
administration. I will compress them within the 
narrowest compass they will bear, stating the 
general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal 
and exact justice to all men, of whatsoever state 
or persuasion, religious or political; peace, com¬ 
merce and honest friendship with all nations, en¬ 
tangling alliances with none; the support of the 
state governments in all of their rights, as the 
most competent administrations for our domestic 
concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti¬ 
republican tendencies; the preservation of the 
general government in its whole constitutional 
vigor, as the sheet-anchor of our peace at home, 
and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of 
election by the people, a mild and safe correction 
of abuses, which are topped by ,the sword of 
revolution where peaceable remedies are unpro- 


128 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


vided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of 
the majority, the vital principle of republics, from 
which there is no appeal but to force, the vital 
principle and immediate parent of despotism; a 
well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace, 
and for the first moments of war, till regulars 
may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over 
the military authority; economy in the public ex¬ 
pense that labor may be lightly burdened; the 
honest payment of our debts and sacred preser¬ 
vation of the public faith; the encouragement of 
agriculture and of commerce as its hand-maid; 
the diffusion of information and the arraignment 
of all abuses at the bar of public reason; freedom 
of religion; freedom of the press; freedom of per¬ 
son, under the protection of the habeas corpus , 
and trial by juries impartially selected,— these 
principles form the bright constellation which has 
gone before us, and guided our steps through an 
age of revolution and reformation.” He concludes 
as follows: “And may that infinite power which 
rules the destinies of the universe lead our coun¬ 
cils to what is best, and give them a favorable 
issue for your peace and prosperity.” 

Mr. Jefferson restored public simplicity to the 
government, cut down public expense, reduced 
the army and navy and labored to preserve the 
popular wave that brought him into power. He 
retained for a time the secretary of war and secre- 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


I29 


tary of navy of Mr. Adams’s cabinet, but filled 
other places with republicans. Jefferson’s admin¬ 
istration was a progressive one. Many obnoxious 
laws were repealed, the diplomatic corps was 
reduced, and many useless offices abolished. 
During his first term one state and two territories 
were added to the Union. In November, 1802, 
Ohio, which had been a part of the Northwest 
Territory, was admitted into the Union. The 
principal event of this administration was the 
purchase of Louisiana from France for the sum 
of $15,000,000. It was erected into two terri¬ 
tories, that of New Orleans and the District of 
Louisiana. This purchase was effected with but 
little difficulty as Napoleon, by it, sought to create 
for England a maritime rival. Napoleon said of 
it: “This accession of territory strengthens forever 
the power of the United States; and I have just 
given to England a maritime rival that will, sooner 
or later, humble her pride.” 

The depredations of the Barbary States of 
Northern Africa upon American commerce be¬ 
came unbearable and our government resolved 
not to pay any more tribute, whereupon the 
Bashaw of Tripoli declared war against the United 
States, on the 10th of June, 1801. Captain Bain- 
bridge was sent to the Mediterranean to protect 
American commerce. In 1803, Commodore 
Preble was sent against these pirates. After 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


130 

forcing the Emperor of Morocco to terms he 
appeared before Tripoli, where one of his vessels, 
the Philadelphia, struck on a rock and before it 
could be rescued was captured by the Tripolitans. 
The officers were treated as prisoners of war and 
the crew as slaves. On the 16th of Februar}^ 
1804, Lieutenant Decatur entered the harbor, 
boarded and burned the Philadelphia, and escaped 
unharmed. This alarmed the Bashaw, but his 
city was able to withstand a severe bombardment, 
and his gunboats gallantly resisted a severe attack 
made by the American vessels August 3d. A 
treaty was concluded between the Bashaw and 
Col. Tobias Lear, the American Consul-General, 
June 3, 1805. 

In January, 1803, the President, in a message 
to Congress, advised an appropriation to defray 
the expenses of an exploring party to proceed 
from the Mississippi river to the Pacific coast. 
The suggestion of the President was acted upon 
and the appropriation made. A party of about 
thirty persons was raised under command of Cap¬ 
tains Lewis and Clarke. It left the Mississippi 
river on the 14th of May, 1804, and was gone for 
about twenty-seven months. This was a very 
successful expedition, particularly in the amount 
of geographical knowledge derived. 

In the autumn of 1804 occurred the presidential 
election. The Democratic nominees were Thomas 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


I 3 I 

Jefferson, and George Clinton of New York. 
They received a large majority over the Federal¬ 
ist candidates, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of 
South Carolina, and Rufus King, of New York. 

Aaron Burr, who had lost his popularity by 
killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel, July nth, 
1804, at Weehawken, New York, sought a new 
field in which to gratify his personal ambition. 
In April, 1805, he crossed the Alleghany moun¬ 
tains and endeavored to raise a military organiza¬ 
tion to invade Mexico. lie was suspicioned of 
having plotted to dismember the Union, and was 
arrested in February, 1807, near Fort Stoddart, 
Alabama, by Lieutenant, afterwards General, 
Gaines and was taken to Richmond, Virginia, 
tried for treason and acquitted. 

The year 1807 is memorable as the beginning 
of steamboat navigation. Robert Fulton, who 
had been engaged in the study of steam naviga¬ 
tion for some time, was enabled through the 
influence of Robert R. Livingston to erect a 
steamboat, called the Clermont, which made a 
voyage from New York City to Albany in thirty- 
six hours. He took out his patent in 1809. 

On account of the continued impressment of 
our seamen, the President recommended a par¬ 
tial non-intercourse with Great Britain, which 
was adopted by Congress April 15th, 1806, the 
prohibition to take place in November following. 


132 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

At the close of Jefferson’s administration Eng¬ 
land and France were engaged in desperate wars 
and each sought to ruin the commerce of the 
other. Each was declared by the other to be in 
a state of blockade. As the United States was a 
neutral nation, her ships performed the greater 
part of the carrying trade of Europe. This led 
to the infliction of great injuries upon our com¬ 
merce. Moreover, England claimed the right 
of impressment b} 7 which she could stop an 
American vessel upon the high seas, and take 
from off her persons of English birth and press 
them into the navy. This unfriendly feeling be¬ 
tween the United States and Great Britain was 
greatly enhanced by the British frigate Leopard 
firing into the American frigate Chesapeake off 
the coast of Virginia in 1807, and taking from her 
four seamen, three of whom were of American 
birth. England disavowed the act but never 
made reparation for it. President Jefferson 
ordered all English vessels to quit American 
waters in July, 1807. Upon December 22, 1807, 
Congress passed the “Embargo Act .” This for¬ 
bid all American vessels to leave their ports. 
But, as this law was productive of no good it was 
repealed March 1st, 1809. All intercourse with 
either England or France was forbidden. 

Jefferson’s administration met with the approval 
of the people in the election of 1808 by the choice 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 133 

of his Secretary of State, James Madison, for 
President. 

Mr. Jefferson retired from the Presidency to 
his Virginia home. Like his great contemporary, 
John Adams, he spent the last of his years in re¬ 
tirement from public life, and, like him also, 
maintained an active interest in the politics of his 
country and state. 

In 1816 he commenced the founding of the 
University of Virginia, by changing Albemarle 
Academy at Charlottesville to Central College. 
In the affairs of this institution he continued to 
manifest a great interest, serving as Rector for 
several years. 

Jefferson was an opponent to the Calvinistic 
Theology of his time. He was not a member of 
any church, but a regular attendant of the Episco¬ 
pal, to the support of which he contributed liber¬ 
ally. Plis own religious opinions were similar to 
the creed of the Unitarians. Jefferson was fre¬ 
quently denounced as an Infidel and Atheist. 

Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams had suffered much 
from a bitter personal estrangement. This was 
the result of years of political antagonism prior to 
Mr. Jefferson’s accession to the Presidency. To 
Jefferson may be accorded the first steps toward 
reconciliation and restoration of the friendship 
that had existed in such large measure between 
them in former patriotic times. During the de- 


*34 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


dining years of their lives, they both maintained 
an active interest in the world’s affairs and found 
much pleasure in friendly correspondence. The 
following are given as specimens of their letters: 

JEFFERSON TO ADAMS. 

Monti cello, June i, 1822. 

“It is very long, my dear sir, since I have writ¬ 
ten you. My dislocated wrist is now become so 
stiff, that I write slowly, and with much pain; and 
therefore write as little as I can. Yet it is due 
to mutual friendship, to ask, once in a while how 
we do? The papers tell us that General Starke 
is off at the age of ninety-three. * * * * * 

still lives at about the same age, cheerful, slender 
as a grasshopper, and so much without memory, 
that he scarcely recognizes the members of his 
household. An intimate friend of his called on 
him not long since. It was difficult to make him 
recollect who he was, and sitting one hour, he 
told him the same story four times over. Is this 
life? — with laboring step 

‘To tread our former footsteps? pace the round 
Eternal? — to beat and beat 

The beaten track — to see what we have seen — 
To taste the tasted — o’er our palates to decant 
Another vintage?’ 

“It is, at most, but the life of a cabbage, surely 
not worth a wish. When all our faculties have 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


X 3S 

left, or are leaving us, one by one, sight, hearing, 
memory, every avenue of pleasing sensation is 
closed, and athumy, debility, and mal-aise left in 
their places, when friends of our youth are all 
gone, and a generation is risen around us whom 
we know not, is death an evil? 

‘When one by one our ties are torn, 

And friend from friend is snatch’d forlorn; . 
When man is left alone to mourn, 

Oh, then, how sweet it is to die! 

‘When trembling limbs refuse their weight, 
And films slow gathering dim the sight; 

When clouds obscure the mental light, 

’Tis Nature’s kindest boon to die! ’ 

“I really think so. I have ever dreaded a dot¬ 
ing old age; and my health has been generally so 
good, and is now so good, that I dread it still. 
The rapid decline of my strength during the last 
winter, has made me hope sometimes, that I see 
land. During summer, I enjoy its temperature, 
but I shudder at the approach of winter, and wish 
I could sleep through it, with the dormouse, and 
only awake with him in .spring, if ever. They say 
that Starke could walk about his room. I am 
told you walk well and firmly. I can only reach 
my garden, and that with sensible fatigue. I 
ride, however, daily; but reading is my delight. 
I should wish never to put pen to paper; and more 


136 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


because of the treacherous practice some people 
have, of publishing one's letters without leave. 
Lord Mansfield declared it a breach of trust, and 
punishable at law. I think it should be a peniten¬ 
tiary felony; yet you will have seen that they have 
drawn me out into the arena of the newspapers. 
Although I know it is too late for me to buckle 
on.the armor of youth, yet my indignation should 
not permit me passively to receive the kick of 
an ass. 

“To return to the news of the day, it seems that 
the cannibals of Europe are going to eat one an¬ 
other again. A war between Russia and Turkey 
is like the battle of the kite and snake; whichever 
destroys the other, leaves a destroyer less for the 
world. This pugnacious humor of mankind 
seems to be the law of his nature; one of the 
objects to too great multiplication, provided in 
the mechanism of the universe. The cocks of 
the hen-yard kill one another; bears, bulls, rams, 
do the same, and the horse in his wild state kills 
all the young males, until, worn down with age, 
and war, some vigorous youth kills him. * * 

* * I hope we shall prove how much hap¬ 

pier for man the Quaker policy is, and that the 
life of the feeder better than that of the fighter. 
And it is some consolation that the desolation by 
these maniacs of one part of the earth is the 
means of improving it in other parts. Let the 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


T 3 7 


latter be our office; and let us milk the cow while 
the Russian holds her by the horns, and the Turk 
by the tail. God bless you, and give you health, 
strength, good spirits and as much of life as you 
think worth having. 

Thomas Jefferson.” 

MR. ADAMS’S REPLY. 

“J^uincy, yune n, 1822. 

“Dear Sir :—Half an hour ago I received, and 
this moment have heard read, for the third or 
fourth time, the best letter that ever was written 
by an octogenarian, dated June 1st. 

-55- 'X- 'X- * # 

“I have not sprained my wrist; but both my 
arms and hands are so overstrained that I cannot 
write a line. Poor Starke remembered nothing, 
and could talk of nothing but the battle of Ben¬ 
nington ! * * * is not quite so re¬ 

duced. I cannot mount my horse, but I can walk 
three miles over a rugged, rocky mountain, and 
have done it within a month; yet I feel, when 
sitting in my chair, as if I could not rise out of it; 
and when risen as if I could not walk across the 
room. My sight is very dim, hearing pretty 
good, memory poor enough. 

“I answer your question, — Is death an evil? 
It is not an evil. It is a blessing to the individual 
and to the world; yet we ought not to wish for it, 


10 


138 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

till life becomes insupportable. We must wait 
the pleasure and convenience of the ‘Great 
Teacher.’ Winter is as terrible to me as to you. 
I am almost reduced in it to the life of a bear or 
torpid swallow. I cannot read, but my delight is 
to hear others read; and I tax all my friends most 
unmercifully and tyrannically against their con¬ 
sent. 

“The ass has kicked in vain; all men say the 
dull animal has missed the mark. 

“This globe is a theatre of war; its inhabitants 
are all heroes. The little eels in vinegar, and the 
animalcules in pepper-water, I believe, are quar¬ 
relsome. The bees are as warlike as the Romans, 
Russians, Britons, or Frenchmen. Ants, cater¬ 
pillars, and cankerworms are the only tribes 
among whom I have not seen battles; and Heaven 
itself, if we believe Hindoos, Jews, Christians, 
and Mohametans, has not always been in peace. 
We need not trouble ourselves about these things, 
nor fret ourselves because of evil doers; but 
safely trust the ‘Ruler with his skies.’ Nor need 
we dread the approach of dotage; let it come if 
it must. * * *, it seems, still delights 

in his four stories; and Starke remembered to the 
last his Bennington, and exulted in his glory; the 
worst of the evil is, that our friends will suffer 
more by our imbecility than we ourselves. * * 

“In wishing for your health and happiness, I am 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


T 39 


very selfish; for I hope for more letters. This is 
worth more than five hundred dollars to me; for 
it has already given me, and will continue to give 
me, more pleasure than a thousand. Mr. Jay, 
who is about your age, I am told, experiences 
more decay than you do. 

“I am your old friend, John Adams.” 

This correspondence excited much attention in 
Europe. The London Morning Chronicle pub¬ 
lished it and commented thereon most favorably. 
It said: “What a contrast the following corres¬ 
pondence of the two rival Presidents of the 
greatest Republic of the world, reflecting an old 
age dedicated to virtue, temperance, and philoso¬ 
phy, presents to the heart-sickening details, occa¬ 
sionally disclosed to us, of the miserable beings 
who fill the thrones of the continent. There is 
not, perhaps, one sovereign of the continent, who 
in any sense of the word can be said to honqr our 
nature, while many make us ashamed of it. The 
curtain is seldom drawn aside without exhibiting 
to us beings worn out with vicious indulgence, 
diseased in mind, if not in body, the creatures of 
caprice and insensibility. On the other hand, 
since the foundation of the American Republic, 
the chair has never been filled by a man, for 
whose life (to say the least,) any American need 
once to blush. It must, therefore, be some com¬ 
pensation to the Americans for the absence of 


140 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


pure Monarchy, that when they look upwards 
their eyes are not always met by vice, and mean¬ 
ness, and often idiocy.” 

Those that contemplate the associations of such 
men as Adams and Jefferson, must bestow upon 
their works and worth, the verdict of universal 
praise. We see them rising with the Colonies, 
struggling to establish American Freedom; and 
afterwards honoring the highest office within the 
gift of a great and free people. We see them 
later on, friendly in old age and retirement, and 
honored by the world. Finally, upon the most 
eventful day of American history they both take 
their flight from the scenes of earthly glory. * 

At fifty minutes past noon of the fiftieth anni¬ 
versary of American Independence, July 4th, 1826, 
the light of the life of one of the greatest and most 
conspicuous of men was darkened by death. An¬ 
other, John Adams, passed away an hour later. 
Jefferson’s last words were, “I resign my soul to 
my God and my daughter to my country!” His 
remains were interred upon a spot that he had 
designated, upon his own estate, and his monu¬ 
ment bears an inscription from his own pen, 
“Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of 
the Declaration of Independence; of the Statute 
of Virginia for Religious Freedom; and the father 
of the University of Virginia; born April 2, (O. S.) 
I 743 ?” died J ul Y 4 ? l826 - 


THOMAS JEFFERSON. 


I 4 I 

His burial place was greatly neglected, until 
recent years when Congress made a proper ap¬ 
propriation for the erection of a new monument 
to his memory. During the consideration of this 
proposition in Congress Miss Sarah N. Randolph, 
a descendant of Jefferson, made the following 
statement to a member of Congress: “The little 
grave-yard at Monticello — only one hundred feet 
square — is all of the ten thousand acres of land 
owned by Jefferson when he entered public life, 
which is now left in the hands of his descendants. 
He sleeps amid scenes of surpassing beauty and 
grandeur, on that lovely mountain side, surround¬ 
ed by the graves of his children and grand chil¬ 
dren to the fifth generation. At his side lies his 
wife whom he loved with singular devotion. A 
few feet from him rests the cherished friend of 
his youth — young Dabney Carr — whose motion 
in the Virginia House of Burgesses, to establish 
committees of correspondence between the sister 
Colonies, leading as it did to the meeting of the 
First Congress, has given his name an enviable 
place in American history. A little farther off 
lie the remains of another devoted and distin¬ 
guished friend, Governor Wilson Cary Nicholas, 
of Virginia; while at his feet sleeps another 
governor of the old Commonwealth, his own son- 
in-law, Thomas Mann Randolph. The modesty 
of the spot is in striking contrast with the cele- 


142 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


brity of its dead; and therefore, perhaps, few in 
America of greater historic interest or more de¬ 
serving of the nation’s care. Soon after the 
appropriation was made by Congress, Mr. W. W. 
Corcoran, the distinguished philanthropist, with 
characteristic munificence, endowed a professor¬ 
ship of natural history in the University of Vir¬ 
ginia, on condition that the institution should care 
for the grave-yard at Monticello, thus very appro¬ 
priately placing the care of Jefferson’s tomb in 
the hands of this child of his old age and the last 
creation of his genius.” Congressman Manning 
said of Jefferson: “In God’s universe there per¬ 
haps never lived a man who could point to grander 
and more glorious testimonials that he had lived. 
He was, indeed, tenacious of living among men 
‘as one that serveth ,’ and 4 Heaven , that lent him 
genius was repaid? He was sure of his reward 
through all succeeding generations.” 


JAMES MADISON. 


I 43 


Chapter IV. 


JAMES MADISON. 



ames Madison, the fourth in the illus¬ 
trious line of American Presidents, was 


at King George, Virginia, March 


born 

16th, 1751. He was the eldest of a family of 
seven children, — four sons and three daughters. 
His father was James Madison, of Orange. His 
mother’s maiden name was Eleanor Conway. 
The Madisons were descendants of John Madison, 
who came to Virginia in 1635, and like the other 
great families of that Colony were of good Eng¬ 
lish ancestry. Montpelier, Orange county, was 
the home of James Madison, Sr., as well as the 
seat of President Madison. 

Mr. Madison’s earliest education was received 
from a private tutor at his home and from the 
crude schools of that locality. His study, pre¬ 
paratory to entering college, was under the direc¬ 
tion of a Scotchman named Robertson, at a school 
in Kings and Queens county. He entered the 
college at Princeton, New Jersey, in 1769 when 


T 44 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


eighteen years old. This college was under the 
presidency of Dr. Witherspoon, a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence. Young Madison 
possessed a sensitive mind, susceptible of impres¬ 
sion by his good surroundings. At college he 
gave himself up to incessant hard study and 
allowed himself but three hours sleep out of each 
twenty-four. By this imprudent act he perma¬ 
nently impaired his constitution. He graduated 
in two years but remained at Princeton until the 
spring of 1773, pursuing a course of reading under 
the observation of Dr. Witherspoon, for whom 
he ever entertained the highest admiration. 

Upon returning to Virginia in 1773, Madison 
began the study of the law, at intervals reading 
philosophical works, belleslettres, and theology. 
To the subject of religion he gave special atten¬ 
tion. After a carefnl and unprejudiced considera¬ 
tion, he declared himself a believer in Revelation. 
The following, from the pen of Mr. Jefferson, 
may here be appropriately inserted, although not 
written of him until late in life, “Trained in these 
successive schools, he acquired a habit of self- 
possession which placed, at ready command, the 
rich resources of his luminous and discriminating 
mind and of his extensive information and ren¬ 
dered him the first of every assembly afterward 
of which he became a member. Never wander¬ 
ing from his subject into vain declamation, but 


JAMES MADISON. 


H 5 


pursuing it closely in language pure, classic and 
copious; soothing always the feelings of his ad¬ 
versaries by civilities, and softness of expression, 
he rose to the eminent station which he held in 
the great national convention of 1787; and in 
Virginia, which followed, he sustained the new 
constitution in all its parts, bearing off the palm 
against the logic of George Mason and the fervid 
declamation of Patrick Henry. With these con¬ 
summate powers were united a pure and spotless 
virtue, which no calumny has ever attempted to 
sully. Of the power and polish of his pen, and 
of the wisdom of his administration in the highest 
office of the nation, I need say nothing. They 
have spoken and will forever speak for them¬ 
selves.” 

In the spring of 1776, when entering upon his 
26th year, he was elected to a Virginia convention 
to frame a republican constitution. He was a 
modest young man who seldom spoke, but 
thought and studied a great deal. Up to this 
time the Episcopal church was as dominant in 
Virginia as it ever had been in England. The 
people, irrespective of religious opinions, were 
taxed for its support. The Colony contained 
many Baptists who, in particular, complained of 
this unjust requirement. Mr. Madison, though 
differing from them in their religious convictions, 
espoused their cause which was associated so 
closely with liberty and justice. 


146 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


In 1777, Mr. Madison was a candidate for the 
Virginia Legislature, but, refusing to treat the 
whiskey loving voters, he lost the election. His 
friends who had observed the decided abilities he 
displayed in the constitutional convention, se¬ 
cured for him a place in the Governor’s Council, 
which he retained throughout the administrations 
of Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, and 
gained their life-long friendship. 

In 1780, when but 29 years of age, Mr. Madison 
was elected to the Continental Congress where 
he remained for three years, until after the close 
of the war and the signing of the treaty of peace. 
His abilities won for him the consideration of the 
first men of the nation and shone with as much 
luster in National affairs as they had in those of 
his own state. Madison, like Jefferson, had been 
born and raised in an aristocratic family and 
alike him also he had adopted intensely demo¬ 
cratic views. 

In 1784, Mr. Madison was elected to the Vir¬ 
ginia Legislature, where, with unmitigated zeal, 
he continued his great work as a law-maker. 
This Legislature settled the question of Religious 
Freedom. The church and state were politically 
separated. Mr. Madison’s publication of a me¬ 
morial and remonstrance agaipst a state religion 
contributed essentially toward bringing about the 
final decision. Madison remained in this position 


JAMES MADISON. 


H7 


for three years. During this time occurred the 
separation of Kentucky from Virginia, which 
measure he favored. He opposed the introduc¬ 
tion of paper money and favored the legal code 
prepared by Jefferson,Wythe and Pendleton. In 
January, 1786, Mr. Madison introduced a resolu¬ 
tion calling upon the states to appoint delegates 
to meet in a convention at Annapolis. But five 
states responded to the call. These, after a dis¬ 
cussion relative to the country’s condition and 
affairs, called upon all the states to send delegates 
to a convention to meet at Philadelphia the fol¬ 
lowing year. In this convention all the states 
were represented except Rhode Island. It met 
in May, 1787, and framed the present constitu¬ 
tion of the United States. Madison and Wash¬ 
ington were both delegates from Virginia. The 
latter was chosen President of the assembly. 
Mr. Madison had studied the country’s needs in 
a new constitution for nearly two years and had 
drafted several proposals. 

Among General Washington’s papers, after his 
death, was found a plan, in his own hand writing, 
and purported to be the substance of a constitu¬ 
tion, which Mr. Madison had conceived, and 
deeming it to be about what was needed, had 
written it in a letter to Washington some time 
before the convention. Mr. Madison’s letter has 
never been found, but the portion of it transcribed 
by Washington is as follows: 


148 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


“Mr. Madison thinks an individual independ¬ 
ence of the states utterly irreconcilable with 
their aggregate sovereignty, and that a consolida¬ 
tion of the whole into one simple republic, would 
be as inexpedient as it is unattainable. He there¬ 
fore proposes a middle ground, which may at 
once support a due supremacy of the national 
authority, and not exclude the local authorities 
when they can be subordinately useful. 

“As the groundwork he proposes that a change 
be made in the principle of representation, and 
thinks there would be no great difficulty in effect¬ 
ing it. 

“Next, that in addition to the present federal 
powers, the national government should be armed 
with positive and complete authority in all cases 
which require uniformity; such as regulation of 
trade, including the right of taxing both exports 
and imports; the fixing of the terms and forms 
of naturalization, etc. 

“Over and above this positive power, a* nega¬ 
tive, in all cases whatever, on the legislative acts 
of the states, as heretofore exercised by the kingly 
prerogative, appears to him absolutely necessary, 
and to be the least possible encroachment on the 
state jurisdictions without this defensive power, 
he conceives that every positive law which can 
be given on paper will be evaded. 

“This control over the laws would prevent the 


JAMES MADISON. 149 

internal vicissitudes of state policy and the 
aggressions of interested majorities. 

“The natural supremacy ought also to be ex¬ 
tended, he thinks, to the Judiciary departments; 
the oaths of the judges should at least include a 
fidelity to the general, as well as the local consti¬ 
tution; and that an appeal should be to some 
national tribunal in all cases to which foreigners 
or inhabitants of the other states may be parties. 
The admiralty jurisdictions to fall entirely within 
the purview of the national government. 

“The national supremacy in the executive de¬ 
partments is liable to some difficulty, unless the 
officers administering them could be made ap- 
pointable by the supreme government. The 
militia ought entirely to be placed, in some form 
or other, under the authority which is with the 
general defense. 

“A government composed of such extensive 
powers should be well organized and balanced. 

“The legislative departments might be divided 
into two branches, one of them chosen every — 
years, by the people at large, or by the legisla¬ 
tures; the other to consist of fewer members, and 
to hold their places for a longer term, and to go 
out in such rotation as always to leave in office a 
large majority of old members. 

“Perhaps the negative on the laws might be 
conveniently exercised by this branch. 


150 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

“As a further check, a council of revision, in¬ 
cluding the great ministerial officers, might be 
superadded. A national executive must also be 
provided. He has scarcely ventured as yet to 
form his own opinion, either of the manner in 
which it ought to be constituted, or of the author¬ 
ity with which it ought to be clothed. 

“An article, especially guaranteeing the tran-. 
quility of the states against internal as well as 
external dangers. 

“In like manner the right of coercion should be 
expressly declared, with the resources of com¬ 
merce in hand, the national administration might 
always find means of exerting it either by sea or 
land; but the difficulty and awkwardness of oper¬ 
ating by force on the collective will of a state, 
render it particularly desirable that the necessity 
of it might be precluded. Perhaps the negative 
on the laws might create such a mutual depend¬ 
ence between the general and particular authori¬ 
ties as to answer; or perhaps some defined objects 
of taxation might be submitted along with com¬ 
merce to the general authority. 

“To give a new system its proper validity and 
energy, a ratification must be obtained from the 
people, and not merely from the ordinary au¬ 
thority of the Legislatures. This will be more 
essential, as inroads on the existing constitutions 
of the states will be unavoidable.” 


JAMES MADISON. 


* 5 * 

A comparison of this document with the Con¬ 
stitution shows how generally his views were 
adopted. He has been termed the “Father of 
the Constitution” and is as literally its father as 
Washington is the Father of His Country. The 
points wherein Mr. Madison failed to have his 
views incorporated are the weakest parts of the 
Constitution. Madison earnestly advocated a 
stronger central government and had he been 
listened to, the country would have been spared 
of much bitter contention and the possibility of 
secession much avoided. When the Constitution 
was pending adoption, by the various states, Mr. 
Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay 
wrote a series of articles in its defense and sup¬ 
port which were published in a volume called The 
Federalist. This work for its political philosophy 
has never been excelled by any production in this 
country. Mr. Madison was a member of the Vir¬ 
ginia Convention of 1788, called to declare upon 
the ratification of the Constitution. Its adoption 
by that state is attributable to his efforts. 

Mr. Madison became a member of the Nation¬ 
al House of Representatives in 1789, in which 
position he remained for eight years. He opposed 
the financial policy of Alexander Hamilton, Secre¬ 
tary of the Treasury, and became the leader of 
the Anti-Federalist party in Congress. Although 
he opposed many measures of Washington’s ad- 


152 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

ministration, his opposition was always tempered 
with such amicable feelings, that the Father of 
the Constitution and the Father of His Country 
were always the best of friends. The following 
extract from a letter written under date of Febru¬ 
ary 20th, 1794, by Mr. Jefferson, demonstrates 
the depth of the friendly relations existing be¬ 
tween Madison, Monroe and himself: “I hope 
you have found access to my library. I beg you 
to make free use of it. The steward is living 
there now, and, of course, will always be in the 
way. Monroe is buying land almost adjoining 
me; Short will do the same. What would I not 
give could you fall into the circle ! With such a 
society, I could once more venture home, and 
lay myself up for the residue of life, quitting all 
its contentions, which grow daily more and more 
insupportable.” 

“Think of it. To render it practicable, only 
requires you to think it so. Life is of no value 
but as it brings us gratifications. Among the 
most valuable of these is rational society. It in¬ 
forms the mind, sweetens the temper, cheers our 
spirits, and restores health. There is a little farm 
of one hundred and forty acres adjoining me, and 
within two miles, all of good land, though old, 
with a small, indifferent house upon it; the whole 
worth not more than two hundred and fifty 
pounds. Such a one might be a farm of experi- 


JAMES MADISON. 153 

ment, and support a little table and household. 
Once more, think of it, and adieu.” 

Mr. Madison was spoken of as a candidate to 
be the successor of Washington. Of it Jefferson 
said: “There is not another persoji in the United 
States, with whom, being placed at the helm of 
our affairs, my mind would be so completely at 
rest for the fortune of our political bark.” 

In 1794, while in New York City, Mr. Madison 
married a young widow, Mrs. Dolly Todd. Her 
maiden name was Paine. She was of a Quaker 
family of North Carolina and a woman of rare 
beauty and abilities. She was much the junior 
of Mr. Madison, who was now forty-three years 
of age. Her intellect and brilliant manners, dur¬ 
ing her reign as mistress of the White House, for 
the extended term of sixteen years — Mr. Madi¬ 
son’s administrations as Secretary of State and 
President — did much to subdue the political 
rancor of those times. No other woman occu¬ 
pied this position with as much queenly grace, 
nor for as long a time as Mrs. Madison. She 
survived her husband thirteen years and died in 
1849. 

The adoption of the Alien and Sedition Laws 
during the administration of Mr. Adams, caused 
Mr. Madison to introduce two series of resolu¬ 
tions. The first, as a private citizen; the second, 
as a member of the Virginia Legislature in 1799. 


11 


*54 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


These, with an accompanying report, have always 
been considered the great text book of the Demo¬ 
cratic party. 

Mr. Madison was Secretary of State of Presi¬ 
dent Jefferson’s, cabinet throughout the entire 
eight years of his administration and contributed 
vastly to its achievements. He was of such 
moderate partisanship that the opposition could 
but regard him as acceptable. Jefferson had 
been called an extremist; an opponent to all law 
and religion and the name Democrat was given 
the party he founded, through derision. As Jef¬ 
ferson’s second term drew to a close the Repub¬ 
lican, now Democrat, party nominated James 
Madison for President, and George Clinton of 
New York, for Vice-President. They triumphed 
over the Federalist nominees, Charles C. Pinck¬ 
ney and Rufus King, and were inaugurated 
March 4th, 1809. Madison’s cabinet consisted of 
Robert Smith, Secretary of State; Albert Galla¬ 
tin, Secretary of Treasury; William Eustis, Secre¬ 
tary of War; Paul Hamilton, Secretary of Navy, 
and Caesar Rodney, Attorney General. 

In 1811 trouble began with the Northwestern 
Indians, who had been incited to hostilities by 
British minions and under the leadership 
of Tecumseh, a famous Shawnee chief, had 
formed a confederation of tribes. General Harri¬ 
son was sent against them and won a decided 


JAMES MADISON. 155 

victory at the Indian town of Tippecanoe, on 
November 7th, 1811. 

The difficulties between Great Britain and the 
United States, which had begun to develop 
in the closing years of the last administra¬ 
tion, still continued. England persisted in her 
impressment of American seamen. This un¬ 
friendly feeling was greatly intensified by an affair 
which occurred May 16th, 1811. The British 
sloop, Little Belt, fired upon the American frigate, 
The President; the fire was returned and the 
Little Belt soon disabled. It being apparent that 
a peaceful solution of these troubles was impos¬ 
sible, war was declared against Great Britain on 
June 19th, 1812. The first military movement 
was the invasion of Canada July 12th, by General 
William Hull. Fort Mackinaw was taken by the 
British upon the 17th of July. Hull returned to 
the American side and on the 16th of August 
very disgracefully surrendered Detroit and his 
whole army as prisoners of war. Another un¬ 
successful attempt to invade Canada was made 
by the Americans under General Van Rensse¬ 
laer, October 13th, which led to the disastrous 
affair at Queenstown. During this year the 
Americans were almost uniformly successful upon 
the sea; more than 3,000 prizes were taken, in¬ 
flicting great injuries upon the British commerce. 
The chief naval battles were the capture of the. 


156 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

British ship, The Guerriere, by the American 
frigate, Constitution, August 19th, off the coast 
of Massachusetts; and the capture of the English 
brig, Frolic, by the American sloop of war, Wasp, 
October 13th, off the coast of North Carolina. 

In the autumn of 1812, President Madison was 
re-elected with Elbridge Gerry as Vice-President. 
The Federalists voted for Dewitt Clinton and 
Jared Ingersoll. The government war policy 
was thus stamped with popular approbation. 

Three armies were raised for the campaign of 
1813 — those of the North, West and Centre. 
The ultimate object was the reduction of Canada. 
That of the North was commanded by General 
Hampton; the Centre, by General Dearborn; the 
West, by General Harrison. Dearborn, after 
reducing Fort George, was succeeded by Gen¬ 
eral Wilkinson, who moved down the St. Law¬ 
rence and fought the indecisive battle of Chrysler’s 
Field, November nth, but owing to a misunder¬ 
standing General Hampton was unable to co¬ 
operate with him. The Americans were more 
successful in the west. A portion of General 
Harrison’s troops were captured and massacred 
at Frenchtown, Ohio. Proctor besieged Fort 
Meigs under General Plarrison early in May, 1813, 
but was repulsed. The British were again re¬ 
pulsed by Major Croghan in an attack upon Fort 
Stephenson. Upon the 10th of September, 1813, 


JAMES MADISON. 


I S 7 


Commodore Perry, with a fleet of nine vessels 
bearing fifty-four guns, gained a decided victory 
over the British fleet under Commodore Barclay, 
of six vessels carrying sixty-three guns, on Lake 
Erie. This success was followed by another in 
the battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813, in 
which General Harrison captured the British 
army under General Proctor. During the year 
1813 many naval battles were won by the Amer¬ 
icans, but the Chesapeake, commanded by Captain 
Lawrence, was captured by the Shannon in 
a battle near Boston. 

In 1813, the Southern Indians formed a con¬ 
federacy against the United States, with the 
Creeks as the leading tribe. The garrison at Fort 
Mimms was massacred by them. General Jack- 
son moved against them and after defeating them 
in several engagements, they made their final 
stand at Horse-shoe Bend, where, upon March 
27th, 1814, a fierce battle was fought, in which 
six hundred warriors were killed. Those that 
escaped were willing to make peace upon any 
terms. 

The Americans, under General Brown, made 
another and final attempt upon Canada. General 
Scott fought the battle of Chippewa, July 5th, 
1814. On the 25th, the battle of Lundy’s Lane 
occurred in which the Americans were success¬ 
ful. This was one of the most glorious battles of 


158 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

the war. On the nth of September the battles 
of Plattsburg and Lake Champlain were fought. 
In the latter the British fleet was almost annihi¬ 
lated, and the British land forces, 12,000 strong, 
under General Prevost, who had attacked the 
Americans numbering fifteen hundred, fled pre- 
cipitantly. In the year 1814, Cockburn continued 
his plundering and murderous warfare along the 
Chesapeake. Stonington, Connecticut, was bom¬ 
barded. Several towns in Maine were captured. 
General Ross, at the head of the British force 
entered Washington on the 24th of August, 
1814, burned the Capitol, the Congressional Lib¬ 
rary and much other public and private property. 
After this he prepared to move against Baltimore. 
On the 12th of September, the British unsuccess¬ 
fully bombarded Fort McHenry. Their land 
forces met with determined resistance and finally 
abandoned the attempt. A treaty of peace was 
concluded on the 24th of December, 1814. The 
commissioners on the part of the United States 
were, John Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry 
Clay, John Russel and Albert Gallatin. Those 
on the part of Great Britain were Admiral Lord. 
Gambier, Henry Goulbourn and William Adams. 
Although by this treaty, England did not renounce 
the right she had claimed to impress our seamen, 
yet the same was tacitly understood. The news 
of this treaty of peace did not reach the United 


JAMES MADISON. 


*59 

States until another decisive battle had been 
fought; that of New Orleans, January 8th, 1815. 
The British, twelve thousand strong, under Gen¬ 
eral Packenham were contemplating the capture 
of that city. General Jackson anticipated their 
designs and threw up intrenchments below the 
city. The British loss was over 2,000, among 
whom was their commander, who fell mortally 
wounded. Jackson had but seven killed and six 
wounded. 

At the close of the war the national debt was 
$127,000,000, which was paid within twenty years 
from the ordinary revenue of the government. 
This war secured to the United States the respect 
of European powers. Our naval ships had often 
met those of the “Mistress of the seas.” It 
proved that it would be impossible for a foreign 
power to gain a foothold here. It had shown 
our strength to be in defensive warfare. 

The Algerines had taken advantage of our 
war with England to renew their depredations 
upon our commerce. In May, 1815, Commodore 
Decatur was sent against them. lie secured the 
liberation of all Americans retained by them; 
compensation for the injury they had done our 
commerce; and pledges to refrain from future 
hostilities. The United States was the first na¬ 
tion to effectually oppose the demands for tribute 
of the piratical states of Northern Africa. 


i6o 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


During Mr. Madison’s administration two states 
were admitted into the Union, Louisiana in 1812, 
and Indiana in 1816. In 1816 a second United 
States Bank was chartered, with a capital of 
^$35,000,000, for twenty years. 

In the Presidential election of 1816, the policy 
of Mr. Madison’s administration was confirmed 
by the election of Mr. Monroe, his Secretary of 
State, as his successor. The Federalist party 
was nearly broken up by its opposition to the 
war. In 1817, Mr. Madison retired to his home 
at Montpelier, Virginia, where he still continued 
to advance his country’s interest as Rector of the 
University of Virginia, and promoter of agricul¬ 
ture and public improvements. In 1829, at the 
age of seventy-eight, he was a delegate to a con¬ 
vention for the revision of the constitution of 
Virginia. 

Madison’s success was not due so much to great 
natural ability, as it was to his persistent applica¬ 
tion and great accuracy. His mind was well 
balanced and strong and his memory uncom¬ 
monly good. He had a large s-tore of knowledge 
and had trained himself to a most skillful use of 
it. When he had spoken upon a subject, nothing 
remained to be said. He liked wit and humor; 
during his last illness some friends came to see 
him; he sank back upon his couch and said: “I 
always talk better when I lie” It was his good 


JAMES MADISON. 


161 


fortune to leave but few, if any, enemies, and a 
whole nation for his friends. 

James Madison, the quiet, inoffensive statesman, 
and one of the most venerable of American 
worthies, had reached the advanced age of 
eight}Mive years. Upon the 28th of June, 1836, 
he lies down to the long sleep of death. John 
Quincy Adams uttered a glowing tribute to the 
memory of Madison, in the following words: “Of 
that band of benefactors of the human race, the 
founders of the Constitution of the United States, 
James Madison is the last who has gone to his 
reward. Their glorious work survives them all. 
They have transmitted the precious bond to us, 
now entirely a succeeding generation to them. 
May it never cease to be a voice of admonition 
to us, of our duty to transmit the inheritance un¬ 
impaired to our children of the rising age!” The 
remains of Madison lie entombed at Montpelier, 
Virginia, with those of his wife. The place and 
its environments are in a good state of preser¬ 
vation. 


i6z 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Chapter V. 


JAMES MONROE. 



HE birth-place of James Monroe is in 
Westmoreland county, Virginia, between 
the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers, 
a region noted for the fertility of its soil; the 
production of so many historic men; and has 
often been designated “The At/iens of America.” 
In the best days, of the best society of this local¬ 
ity, he was born and reared. 

James Monroe was the descendant of a Scotch 
family. His ancestor, Captain Hector Monroe, 
of the army of Charles I., after the execution of 
his king and the accession of Cromwell, removed, 
as did the ancestors of Washington and other 
cavaliers to Virginia. His father was Spence 
Monroe and his mother was Eliza Jones of King 
George county. Her brother, Joseph Jones, 
served twice as a member of the Continental 
Congress and as district judge of his own county. 

The subject of this sketch, born April 28th, 
1 758, was surrounded with superior advantages 
in his early days. Books, libraries, and associa- 


JAMES MONROE. 


163 


tions of a high order, were abundant there. He 
graduated at William and Mary College, next to 
Harvard in age of any in the United States, at the 
age of eighteen and entered at once upon the 
study of law, but soon abandoned it to enter the 
Revolutionary Army. James Monroe entered the 
Third Regiment of Virginia Volunteers under Col. 
Hugh Mercer and was elected a lieutenant. 
They marched and joined Washington’s army in 
1776 at New York. He shared in the defeat of 
the battle of Long Island, August 27th, 1776, and 
in the disastrous campaign of New York, that 
followed; and in the memorable retreat through 
New Jersey. While gallantly fighting in the 
battle of Trenton, December 26th, 1776, he was 
severely wounded in the shoulder. For his ser¬ 
vices in this contest he was promoted to a cap¬ 
taincy. He and Col. William Washington led 
the left wing of the American forces in this battle 
and did much effective work. After recovering 
from his wound, he re-entered the army and 
participated in the battles of Brandywine, Sep¬ 
tember 11, 1777, Germantown, October 4th, and 
Monmouth, June 28th, 1778. During the cam¬ 
paign of 1777-78 he acted as aid-de-camp for 
Lord Sterling. After this he returns to Virginia 
with letters from General Washington and Lord 
Sterling to raise a new regiment. The exhausted 
condition of the country made this attempt a 


164 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


failure. This, and the fact that by acting as 
Sterling’s aid-de-camp he had lost his rank in the 
army, brought discouragement to young Monroe. 
Thomas Jefferson invited him to his office to 
study law and his uncle, Judge Jones, advised him 
to accept. He did so, and thus the pathway of 
this much disheartened young man was imme¬ 
diately opened to broad fields in a glorious future. 

In 1780, Governor Jefferson sent Monroe as a 
commissioner to the Southern army under the 
brave De Kalb. 

In 1782, when twenty-four years of age he was 
elected to the legislature of his state and about 
this time was made a member of its executive 
council. In 1783, when twenty-five, he was 
sent as a delegate to Congress, where he wit¬ 
nessed Washington’s resignation as Commander- 
in-Chief. In this position he remained for three 
years. His abilities commanded the profound 
admiration of many of the eminent men of the 
country. 

In 1787 he was re-elected to the Virginia 
Legislature. The next year he was a member 
of the Virginia Convention called to declare upon 
the ratification of the United States Constitution 
and voted against its adoption, fearing it gave the 
central government too much power. 

December 6th, 1790, he took his seat as one 
of the United States Senators from Virginia, 


JAMES MONROE. 


165 

which he retained about four years. Senator 
Monroe vigorously opposed the financial policy 
of Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, and was 
in opposition to many measures of Washington’s 
administration, but such was always tempered 
with moderation and he and Washington re¬ 
mained steadfast friends. 

May 28th, 1794? Mr. Monroe was appointed 
minister to France. He arrived in that country 
soon after the fall of Robespierre. He was in¬ 
troduced to the Citizen’s Convention as “Citizen 
James Monroe” and August 15th, delivered a 
friendly written address which was read in French 
by the Secretary. Monroe’s appointment was 
the subject of much adverse criticism by the 
sympathizers of Great Britain in European affairs, 
but on the other hand, as greatly applauded by 
the friends of the patriot cause in France which 
found in James Monroe an ardent admirer. 
Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State and a 
bitter opponent of the French addressed a dis¬ 
patch to Mr. Monroe, in which he censured his 
conduct as an American minister, as too apt to 
wound the feelings of other nations, particularly 
England. Mr. Monroe defines his instructions 
from President Washington in the following 
reply: “My instructions enjoined it on me to use 
my utmost endeavors to inspire the French gov¬ 
ernment with perfect confidence,in the solicitude 


166 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

which the President felt for the success of the 
French Revolution; of his preference of France 
to all other nations, as the friend and ally ot the 
United States; of the grateful sense which we 
still retained for the important services that were 
rendered us by France in the course of our Revo¬ 
lution; and to declare in explicit terms that al¬ 
though neutrality was the lot we preferred, yet, 
in case we embarked in the war, it would be on 
her side, and against her enemies, be they who 
they might.” 

In 1795, a treaty had been concluded with 
Great Britain, by John Jay, the American Embas¬ 
sador to the court of St. James. The President 
and his Cabinet decided upon the recall of Mon¬ 
roe as a means of preserving their strict neutral¬ 
ity. Mr. Monroe returned to the United States 
with a wounded spirit and wrote a book of four 
hundred pages in his defense entitled, “A View 
of the Conduct of the Executive in Foreign Af¬ 
fairs,” in which he sustained his opinions well. 

In 1796, President Washington wrote the 
French Minister as follows: “My best wishes are 
irresistibly excited, whensoever, in any country, 
I see an oppressed nation unfurl the banner of 
freedom; but, above all, the events of the French 
Revolution have produced the deepest solicitude 
as well as the highest admiration. To call your 
nation brave, were to pronounce but common 


JAMES MONROE. 


167 


praises. Wonderful people ! Ages to come will 
read with astonishment your brilliant exploits. In 
delivering to you these sentiments, I express not 
my feelings only, but those of my fellow-citizens, 
in relation to the commencement, the progress, 
and the issue of the French Revolution.” 

After Mr. Monroe’s return from France, the 
Virginia Legislature chose him Governor of that 
state. He filled this position for three years, 
from 1799 to 1802. His services in this capacity 
were very satisfactory to the people of Virginia. 

In 1801, the territory of Louisiana was ceded 
by Spain to France. This large domain that so 
hindered the free use of the Mississippi river 
when possessed by a foreign power, it soon be¬ 
came apparent, must of necessity belong to the 
United States, or ere long war would result. 
Accordingly President Jefferson sent Mr. Mon¬ 
roe, who was greatly esteemed by the French 
nation, as a special minister to France to assist 
Robert R. Livingston in negotiating for the pur¬ 
chase of that territory. Mr. Livingston prepared 
a memorial to the First Consul of France in 
which he ably argued the mutual advantage for 
the United States to possess this vast domain. 
The treaty which effected the purchase of Orleans 
and the district of Louisiana was completed in 
May, 1803. The sum of $15,000,000 was paid 
to France as compensation for the same. This 


i68 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


purchase, so quietly made, and for such a small 
amount in comparison to its large extent and 
enormous value to the United States, was the 
largest transfer of land ever made. This event 
was chiefly due to six persons—Jefferson, Living¬ 
ston and Monroe for the United States and Bona¬ 
parte, Talleyrand and Marbois for France. After 
it was completed the ministers from the United 
States arose and shook hands; Livingston said: 
“We have lived long, but this is the noblest work 
of our whole lives.” Monroe regarded his por¬ 
tion of this affair as one of the greatest acts of his 
public life. Mr. Monroe now leaves France for 
England. The French people were now in a 
better frame of mind than for some time and 
America was much enriched by the territorial 
acquisitions from France by their late treaty. 

England went on with her odious impress¬ 
ment of our seamen until the American people 
had reached the acme of indignation. Mr. Mon¬ 
roe’s mission to England to obtain a treaty 
respecting the rights of a recognition of our 
neutrality, was unavailing aud he left for Spain. 
While at Paris on his way to the Spanish govern¬ 
ment, he witnessed the crowning of Napoleon as 
Emperor of France. His visit to Spain, to adjust 
a difficulty arising from a controversy respecting 
the eastern boundary of “Louisiana,” ceded by 
Spain to France and from France to us, was as 


JAMES MONROE. 


169 


unproductive of good as his efforts in England. 

Our relations with Great Britain were growing 
more and more menacing every day. The United 
States was putting forth all endeavor to avert 
the approach of war. Often they were willing 
to submit to measures rather humiliating if such 
would prevent the plunging of this nation into 
war with England. Mr. Monroe returns to Eng¬ 
land almost in the character of a supplicant. 
While here he was associated with Mr. William 
Pinckney, United States Minister to England in 
extended interviews with Lords Auckland and 
Holland, regarding the impressment of our sea¬ 
men. He carried a treaty home with him but 
the same was so unsatisfactory that the President 
would not permit it to be sent to the Senate for 
ratification. 

Late in 1807, upon his return from England, 
Mr. Monroe wrote a defense of his well meant 
endeavors in Europe. He retired to a few years 
of private life with his family at his Virginia 
home and there enjoyed the competence he had 
received from his father’s estate. 

In 1809, at the close of Jefferson’s second term, 
many urged Mr. Monroe for the Presidency but 
he would not permit his name’ to be presented to 
the nominating caucus. 

In 1811, he served his state the second time, 
as Governor for a few months. He resigned the 


12 


170 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


office of Governor to accept a position in Madi¬ 
son’s cabinet, that of Secretary of State. In this 
office his correspondence with Great Britain soon 
demonstrated that war was inevitable. Such 
was formally declared in June, 1812. Mr. Mon¬ 
roe, as Secretary of State, transmitted this intelli¬ 
gence to the British government. After the 
plundering of Washington and burning of the 
Capitol building, August, 1814, by the British 
troops under General Ross, the inefficient Secre¬ 
tary of War, General Armstrong, was removed 
and Mr. Monroe was appointed to fill that office, 
which he did in addition to the office of Secretary 
of State. England, from her experience as to 
the character of American opposition, gained in 
the Revolution of 1776, decided to send power¬ 
ful armies of her best men for the war of 1812. 
The condition of the American army and navy 
at the beginning was feeble, and active officers 
were few. This gave the United States many 
defeats at first. The financial condition of the 
country was a bad state of depletion. It became 
apparent that the British were preparing to send 
a large force into the mouth of the Mississippi; 
This would prove a very ruinous invasion to the 
Americans and something had to be done to 
avert the impending peril of the country. Mr. 
Monroe comes forward with great assistance by 
pledging his private property to supplement the 


JAMES MONROE. 


I 7 I 

government’s weak abilities in preparing for the 
defense of New Orleans, and thus by his great 
devotion to his country supplied General Jackson 
with the weapons to so effectually beat back the 
foe in the battle of New Orleans January 8th, 
1815. In the face of certain unpopularity and 
ruined hopes of his ever being able to attain to 
the Presidency, Mr. Monroe had concluded to 
raise the army to 100,000 men, but fortunately, 
this was rendered unnecessary by the treaty of 
Ghent, December 24th, 1814, and the war came 
to a close. Mr. Monroe continued to serve his 
country with the same zeal and devotion through¬ 
out Madison’s administration, as Secretary of 
State, having surrendered a portion of his two¬ 
fold duties by resigning the office of Secretary 
of War when the crisis had passed. 

Mr. Monroe’s nomination for the Presidency 
was brought about by the action of a caucus of 
Democratic members of Congress at Washing¬ 
ton, March 16th, 1816. Daniel D. Tompkins of 
New York, was nominated for the Vice-Presi¬ 
dency. The Federalist party by its opposition 
to the war had been greatly weakened. The 
Federalist candidate was Rufus King. Monroe 
and Tompkins were elected by a majority which 
well nigh approached unanimity, and were in¬ 
augurated March 4th, 1817, Chief Justice Mar¬ 
shall administering the oath of office. Monroe’s 


172 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


cabinet consisted of John Quincy Adams, Secre¬ 
tary of State; William H. Crawford, Secretary 
of Treasury; John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War; 
Benjamin Crowninshield, Secretary of Navy; Wil¬ 
liam Wirt, Attorney-General. The war depart¬ 
ment was offered to the venerable Governor 
Shelby of Kentucky, but he declined. Calhoun’s 
appointment was made in 1817. Mr. Crownin¬ 
shield of Madison’s cabinet, was retained until 
November, 1818, when Smith Tompkins was 
appointed as his successor. No President since 
the formation of the government had been sur¬ 
rounded by abler counselors. His inaugural 
address was liberal and gave general satisfaction. 

Monroe’s administration is distinguished as an 
epoch of great increase in the natural wealth of 
our country. Many manufactures had sprung up 
during the war, which after peace had "Been re¬ 
stored were unable to compete with manufactures 
of Europe. The people thus forced from this 
kind of employment sought homes in the broad 
domain of the west. During the administration 
five new states were added to the Union; Missis¬ 
sippi, December 10th, 1817; Illinois, December 
3rd, 1818; Alabama, December 14th, 1819; 
Maine, March 3rd, 1820, and Missouri, March 
2nd, 1821. Not long after Monroe’s inaugura¬ 
tion as President, he made a tour throughout the 
North and West, to acquaint himself with the 


JAMES MONROE. 


T 73 


nation’s ability, should future hostilities occur. 
While on this visit he completely won the hearts 
of the people, and all looked with favor upon his 
administration. The year 1817 is marked for the 
suppression of two piratical and slave dealing es¬ 
tablishments. One at the mouth of St. Mary’s 
river in Florida, and the other at Galveston, 
Texas. In addition to this secret trade in slaves, 
these outlaws, claiming to act under authority of 
some of the South American republics, were en¬ 
deavoring to secure the independence of Florida 
from Spain. In November of this year American 
troops took possession of Amelia Island, the 
rendezvous of the Florida coast. The one at 
Galveston was soon abandoned. 

At about the same time trouble broke out upon 
the frontier of Georgia and Alabama Territories. 
A force composed chiefly of Seminoles and 
Creeks, who were dissatisfied with the treaty of 
1814, commenced murderous depredations upon 
the settlers in these quarters. General Gaines 
was sent to their protection by the President. He 
was joined by 1,000 Tennessee volunteers under 
General Jackson. It being known that the In¬ 
dians were being incited to hostilities by British 
subjects in the province of Florida, General Jack- 
son invaded it and took possession of the Fort of 
St. Mark, city of Pensacola and Fort Barrancas 
and sent the Spanish troops to Havana. These 


i74 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


decided measures on the part of General Jackson 
were censured by many, but he was sustained by 
the government and a majority of the people. 
This led to a permanent settlement of affairs in 
that section. 

By a treaty negotiated at Washington in Feb¬ 
ruary of 1819, Spain surrendered to the United 
States, Florida and all the adjacent islands in 
liquidation of all claims held against Spain for 
injuries done to American commerce, to an 
amount not exceeding $5,000,000. The same 
treaty fixed the boundary between Texas and 
Louisiana at the Sabine river. Two other meas¬ 
ures added greatly to the popularity of the ad¬ 
ministration. The first of these was a measure 
adopted, in pursuance of the suggestion of the 
President, by Congress in 1818, providing for 
pensioning the officers and soldiers of the Revo¬ 
lutionary war. It was afterward extended to in¬ 
clude the widows and children. The second 
was an arrangement entered into with Great 
Britain in October of 1818, by which American 
citizens were permitted to share with the people 
of that kingdom the valuable fisheries of New¬ 
foundland. 

In November of 1820, occurred the ninth elec¬ 
tion for President of the United States. It was 
the most quiet one since the formation of the 
government; was almost free from partisan spirit. 


JAMES MONROE. 


*75 


The Federalists as a party organization had be¬ 
come well nigh extinct. Mr. Monroe was re¬ 
elected President. He received all but one of 
the electoral votes; the opposing vote came from 
New Hampshire. Mr. Tompkins was re-elected 
Vice-President by a large majority. 

When Missouri knocked at the door of the 
Union asking for admittance as a slave state, a 
violent discussion ensued,* both in and out of Con¬ 
gress. The friends of slavery favored its admit¬ 
tance, while the opponents to that institution 
opposed it. The matter was settled by a Com¬ 
promise in 1821, proposed by Henry Clay, admit¬ 
ting Missouri with a constitution permitting 
slavery, but prohibiting it in all parts of the Union 
north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes 
north latitude, (southern boundary of Missouri) 
and west of the Mississippi river. 

Few events of importance aside from the in¬ 
ternal developments of the country, occurred 
during the closing years of Monroe’s administra¬ 
tion. American commerce had been exposed to 
great suffering from pirates among the West In¬ 
dies. In 1819, Commodore Perry was sent 
against them, but he died of the yellow fever and 
but little was done for nearly four years, when in 
1822 an American force destroyed more than 
twenty piratical vessels off the coast of Cuba. 
The following year their destruction was com- 


176 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


pleted by a superior force under Commodore 
Porter. 

In his annual message of 1823, the President 
declared what has since been denominated, 
“ The Monroe Doctrine .” According to which 
an attempt upon the part of any European power 
to colonize the American continent would be 
considered as an unfriendly act to the United 
States. 

The arrival of LaFayette from France as a 
national guest in August, 1824, was joyously 
greeted by our whole people. During the eleven 
months that followed he travelled over 5,000 
miles on his tour throughout the Union. He 
visited each of the twenty-four states and the 
tomb of Washington. He was carried home in 
a frigate, provided for that purpose by the gov¬ 
ernment, called the Brandywine, in honor of the 
battle in which LaFayette first drew his sword 
in defense of American liberties. 

The Presidential election of 1824 was a very 
bitter one; four candidates were in the field, each 
representing a particular section of the Union. 
As a consequence of this division no candidate 
received a majority of all the electoral votes. 
The right of choice devolved upon the House of 
Representatives by which John Quincy Adams 
of Massachusetts, was chosen in February, 1825. 
John C. Calhoun was elected Vice-President by 
the people. 


JAMES MONROE. 


177 


At the expiration of his very successful admin¬ 
istration President Monroe retired to his home at 
Oak Grove, Loudoun county, Virginia. After 
his retirement Mr. Monroe served as a Regent of 
the University of Virginia, and as Justice of the 
Peace. Mr. Monroe’s domestic relations were 
very enjoyable. While a member of Congress, 
at the age of twenty-eight he married Miss Eliza 
Kortright of New York City, and afterwards 
made his home at Fredericksburg, Virginia, for 
several years. They had two daughters, Eliza 
who married Judge George Hay of Virginia, and 
Maria who married Samuel L. Governeur of 
New York. When Mr. Monroe was in Paris 
his daughter Eliza was a schoolmate of Hortense, 
daughter of Josephine and step-daughter of Em¬ 
peror Napoleon, who became Queen of Holland, 
and their teacher was the" celebrated Madam 
Campan. Eliza named a daughter Hortensia 
for Queen Hortense who ever retained a great 
interest in her namesake and sent her many pres¬ 
ents and numerous portraits. 

Mr. Monroe was a man that made many 
friends and kept them. He lived a great life— 
one of devotion to his country and much self- 
immolation. His public life reaches through the 
activity of more than five decades. His last 
years were spent with his daughter, Mrs. Gover¬ 
neur of New York. Upon July 4th, 1831, when 


178 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

in his seventy-fourth year, Mr. Monroe died. He 
was buried in New York. Upon the one hun¬ 
dredth anniversary of his birth his remains, by 
order of the General Assembly of Virginia, were 
removed to his native state and interred there in 
Hollywood Cemetery, at Richmond, with great 
demonstrations of respect. Monroe’s character 
was spotless and pure and his life eminently im¬ 
portant to all Americans. Jefferson said of him: 
“If his soul were turned inside out not a spot 
could be found upon it.” 

A short time after the death of James Monroe, 
John Quincy Adams delivered an interesting eu¬ 
logy upon his life and character to a large audience 
in Faneuil Hall, Boston, closing as follows: 

“Our country, by the bountiful dispensations 
of a gracious Heaven, is, and for a series of years 
has been, blessed with profound peace. But 
when the first father of our race had exhibited 
before him, by the archangel sent to announce 
his doom, and to console him in his fall, the for¬ 
tunes and misfortunes of his descendants, he saw 
that the deepest of their miseries would befall 
them while favored with the blessings of peace. 
It is the very fervor of the noonday sun, in the 
cloudless atmosphere of a summer sky, which 
breeds 

‘the sweeping whirlwind’s sway, 

That, hushed in grim repose, expects his even- 
ing prey.’ 


JAMES MONROE. 


1 19 


“You have insured the gallant ship which 
ploughs the waves, freighted with your lives and 
your children’s fortunes, from the fury of the 
tempest above, and from the treachery of the 
wave beneath. Beware of the danger against 
which you can alone insure yourselves—the 
latent defect of the gallant ship itself. Pass but 
a few short days, and forty years will have elapsed 
since the voice of him who addresses you, speak¬ 
ing to your fathers from this hallowed spot, gave 
for you, in the face of Heaven, the solemn pledge, 
that if, in the course of your career on earth, 
emergencies should arise, calling for the exercise 
of those energies and virtues which, in time of 
tranquillity and peace remain by the will of 
Heaven dormant in the human bosom, you would 
prove yourselves not unworthy the sires who had 
toiled, and fought, and bled, for the independence 
of the country. Nor has that pledge been un¬ 
redeemed. You have maintained through times 
of trial and danger the inheritance of freedom, of 
union, of independence bequeathed you by your 
forefathers. It remains for you only to transmit 
the same peerless legacy, unimpaired, to your 
children of the next succeeding age. To this 
end, let us join in humble supplication to the 
Founder of empires and the Creator of all worlds 
that he would continue to your posterity the 
smiles which his favor has bestowed upon you; 


I 80 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

and, since ‘it is not in man that walketh to direct 
his steps,’ that he would enlighten and lead the 
advancing generation in the way they should go. 
That in all the perils, and all the mischances 
which may threaten or befall our United Repub¬ 
lic, in after times, he would raise up from among 
your sons deliverers to enlighten her councils, to 
defend her freedom, and if need be to lead her 
armies to victory. And should the gloom of the 
year of independence ever again overspread the 
sky, or the metropolis of your empire be once 
more destined to smart under the scourge of an 
invader’s hand, that there never may be found 
wanting among the children of your country, a 
warrior to bleed, a statesman to counsel, a chief 
to direct and govern, inspired with all the virtues, 
and endowed with all the faculties, which have 
been so signally displayed in the life of Jam^s 
Monroe.” 

There are but few coincidences in history more 
remarkable than the death of the three Ex- 
Presidents and illustrious patriots, Jefferson, 
Adams and Monroe. They were prominent 
among those who proclaimed and achieved the 
independence of our country, and a half-century 
or more afterwards, when peace and prosperity 
had hovered their wings over a free people, upon 
the anniversary day of American Independence, 
when they had each reached a serene old age 


JAMES MONROE. 


181 


and ruled wisely over the land, whose liberty 
they had so earnestly fought for and so success¬ 
fully maintained, and amid the rejoicing of mil¬ 
lions they pass peacefully away. Thus a nation’s 
joy was changed to universal sorrow. This 
singular coincidence-seems but to add additional 
lustre and glory to names already imperishable. 



AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


182 


Chapter VI. 


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 


J ohn Quincy Adams, the sixth President 
of the United States, and son of the second 
(Sp? President, John Adams, was born on the 
nth day of July, 1767, in that portion of the old 
town of Braintree, Massachusetts, now known as 
Quincy. The ancestors of the Adamses were of 
the middle class in English society. The family 
was attended with more prosperity in the New 
World than in the Old. Henry Adams emigrated 
to Massachusetts from Devonshire, England, 
about ten years after the landing of the Pilgrims 
on Plymouth Rock in 1620. Pie sought enjoy¬ 
ment of religious liberty. The son of this pioneer, 
Joseph, his grandson, Joseph, and his great grand¬ 
son, Deacon John Adams, bring the family down 
to the father of the subject of this sketch. The 
Adamses as a family were noted for their virtue. 
The earlier members were adherents of the 
Puritan faith. The mother of John Quincy 
Adams was Abigail Smith, who was related to 
the Quincy family. Mr. Adams was named for 
his great-grandfather, John Quincy. His maternal 


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 183 

grandfather, William Smith, was a minister. 
Josiah Quincy, the greatest of his name, is the 
author of a biography of John Quincy Adams. 
Abigail Adams was a woman of fine abilities 
and considerable culture. Her letters occupy a 
place in the literature of her time, and show the 
women of those days to have been active thinkers 
as well as the men. 

The surroundings or time in which a man 
chances to live, influences in common with his 
ancestry, his career. The birth of John Quincy 
Adams occurred in a stirring period. It was 
when his parents, their neighbors and country¬ 
men were considering British oppression of the 
American Colonies. The exciting events during 
his boyhood, no doubt, contributed much toward 
the moulding of his mind. In 1761, six years 
prior to his birth, the Writs of Assistance were 
adopted by the British Parliament. In 1765, the 
Stamp Act was passed by the same assembly, 
but was so bitterly opposed in the Colonies that 
it was repealed in 1766, just one year previous to 
the birth of Mr. Adams. In 1767, the same year 
in which he was born, Parliament laid a tax upon 
paper, glass and tea, which aroused the Colonists 
in opposition to its enforcement. Upon the 5th 
of March, 1770, occurred the Boston Massacre. 
On the 16th of December, 1773, the tea on board 
ships in Boston Harbor was thrown overboard, 


184 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


which act was soon followed by the adoption of 
the Boston Port Bill by the British Parliament. 
In September, 1774, when Mr. Adams was seven 
years old, the first Continental Congress met at 
Philadelphia with his father as one of its mem¬ 
bers. In 1775, occurred the battles of Lexing¬ 
ton and Bunker Hill. When Mr. Adams was 
about eight years of age, with his mother on the 
summit of Penn’s Hill he watched the latter. In 
the same year, upon the suggestion of his father, 
Washington was made Commander-in-Chief of 
the American army, who, at once, inaugurated 
the siege of Boston which ended in its evacuation 
by the British troops March 17th, 1776. Upon 
the 4th of July of the same year Congress adopted 
the Declaration of Independence, when Mr. 
Adams was about nine years old. 

Mr. Adams received the rudiments of his educa¬ 
tion in the schools of his native village. His mind 
developed rapidly which is shown by the follow¬ 
ing letter written to his father while in Congress: 

“ Braintree , June 2, 1777. 

“Dear Sir:—I love to receive letters very well, 
much better than I love to write them. I make 
a poor figure at composition. My head is much 
too fickle. My thoughts are running after bird’s 
egg s , play and trifles, till I get vexed with my¬ 
self. Mamma has a troublesome task to keep me 
a studying. I own I am ashamed of myself. I 


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 1 85 

have just entered the third volume of Rollings 
History, but designed to have got half through it 
by this time. I am determined to be more dili¬ 
gent. Mr. Thaxter is absent at court. I have 
set myself a stint this week, to read the third 
volume half out. If I can but keep my resolu¬ 
tion, I may again, at the end of the week, give a 
better account of myself. I wish, sir, you would 
give me, in writing, some instructions with regard 
to ^he use of my time, and advise me how to pro¬ 
portion my studies and play, and I will keep them 
by me and endeavor to follow them. With the 
present determination of growing better, I am, 
dear sir, Your son, John Quincy Adams. 

“P. S.—Sir, if you will please be so good as to 
favor me with a blank book, I will transcribe the 
most remarkable passages I meet with in my 
reading, which will serve to fix them upon my 
mind—” 

In November, 1777, John Adams was appointed 
American minister to France. He set sail from 
Boston on February 13th, 1778, taking with him 
John Quincy, who was then in his eleventh year. 
At Paris he was associated with his colleagues, 
Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee, who spoke 
in flattering terms of young Adams. The boy 
attended school at Paris until June, 1779, when 
he returned to America with his father. 

In November, 1779, John Adams was again 


13 


186 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

sent abroad in the diplomatic service of the 
United States, with power to negotiate a treaty 
of peace with Great Britain. His son John Quincy, 
then twelve years old, accompanied him to France 
the second time. There he remained in school 
at Paris until July, 1780, when his father was 
made our Minister to The Netherlands. While 
here Mr. Adams sent his son to school, a portion 
of the time at Amsterdam and at the University 
of Leyden until July, 1781, when he was selected 
by Francis Dana, American Minister to Russia, 
as his private secretary. In connection with his 
duties as secretary of Mr. Dana, he found time 
to continue the study of the languages and Eng¬ 
lish history. In 1782, he went to Stockholm, 
where he spent the winter and returned to Paris 
in time to witness the signing; of the definite 
treaty of peace between Great Britain and the 
United States, September 3rd, 1783. After this 
he went with his father to England where he saw 
a great many of the prominent men of that coun¬ 
try. From there he returned to Paris and re¬ 
newed his studies. He remained in France until 
May, 1785, when he returned with his father to 
the United States. 

Soon after John Quincy Adams was eighteen 
years of age, his father received the appointment 
of first American Minister to England. John 
Quincy was free to choose between a life at court 


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 


187 


or one at college, and very wisely chose the 
latter. After reviewing his studies under a pri¬ 
vate instructor, he entered the Junior class of 
Harvard College in March, 1786. He graduated 
before he was twenty years old, in 1787, taking 
the second honors of his class. He delivered 
upon this occasion an oration, entitled, “The Im¬ 
portance of Public Faith to the Well Being of a 
Community,” which in consideration of its merit, 
was published. 

Mr. Adams, at the age of twenty, entered the 
study of law at Newburyport, in the office of 
Theophilus Parsons, afterwards Chief Justice of 
Massachusetts. He was admitted to the bar in 
1790, and opened an office in Boston, but was 
unable to secure much practice for some time; he 
was unknown in that city although born and raised 
within ten miles of there. Of his work and prac¬ 
tice as a lawyer he afterwards said: “I can hardly 
call it practice, because for the space of one year 
it would be difficult for me to name any practice 
which I had to do. For two years, indeed I can 
recall nothing in which I was engaged that may 
be termed practice, though during the second 
year there were some symptoms that by per¬ 
severing patience, practice might come in time. 
The third year, I continued this patience and 
perseverance, and having little to do, occupied 
my time as well as I could, in the study of those 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


188 

laws and institutions which I have since been 
called to administer. At the end of the third year 
I had obtained something which might be called 
practice. The fourth year I found it swelling to 
such an extent that I felt no longer any concern 
as to my future destiny as a member of that pro¬ 
fession. But in the midst of the fourth year, by 
the will of the first President of the United States, 
with which the Senate was pleased to concur, I 
was selected for a station, not perhaps, of more 
usefulness, but of greater consequence in the esti¬ 
mation of mankind, and sent from home on a 
mission to foreign parts.” 

Mr. Adams, in connection with his law studies, 
wrote considerable, on political topics. His first 
work consisted of a series of essays, published in 
the Columbia Sentinel, and were an answer to 
the “Rights of Man,” a pamphlet on the French 
Revolution, by Thomas Paine. His second pro¬ 
duction advocated the neutrality of the United 
States in European affairs. His third was con¬ 
cerning M. Genet, the French Minister to the 
United States, who was laboring among the Am¬ 
ericans to excite a sympathy for France, and 
indignation for England. These essays were very 
able ones. They were published by newspapers 
and pamphlets and extensively read. Mr. Adams 
was conversant with his themes. From obser¬ 
vation while abroad, he learned much of the 


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 


189 


etiquette of courts and diplomacy. He had gained 
much knowledge of European nations. These 
essays were read by Washington, and more 
deeply appreciated when known that their author 
was the son of his Vice-President. 

In 1794, President Washington appointed Mr. 
Adams American Minister to The Netherlands. 
He*was twenty-seven years of age the day his 
commission was issued, July nth. He embarked 
at Boston in the following September and ar¬ 
rived in London in October. After spending 
fifteen days with Messrs. Jay and Pinckney, assist¬ 
ing to negotiate a treaty with England, Mr. 
Adams went on to The Hague. Holland had 
been overrun by the French, hence, Mr. Adams’s 
diplomatic intercourse was with both the con¬ 
queror and the conquered. 

In July, 1796, Mr. Adams was appointed United 
States Minister to Portugal, but received no in¬ 
telligence of his appointment until his successor 
arrived at The Hague. From Holland he went 
to London, and was married to Miss Louisa 
Catharine Johnson, daughter of Joshua Johnson, 
the American Consul at London, July 26th, 1797. 

In England, he found letters directing him to 
the court of Berlin. This appointment was made 
by his father, upon the recommendation of Presi¬ 
dent Washington, who regarded Mr. Adams as 
the ablest man in the American diplomatic ser- 


190 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


vice. In 1798, he was commissioned to negotiate 
a commercial treaty with Sweden. Mr. Adams 
remained until 1801 at Berlin, when he returned 
to America. 

At Boston he re-entered the practice of law. In 
1802, he was elected, by the Federalists of his dis¬ 
trict, a member of the Massachusetts Senate. When 
the Governor’s Council was to be chosen, Mr. 
Adams moved that the minority be represented 
in the selection, as it had equal rights with the 
majority. This noble, non-partisan spirit was 
retained throughout life and often caused Mr. 
Adams to be accused of corrupt alliance with the 
opposition. 

In 1803, Mr. Adams was elected a United 
States Senator from Massachusetts. In 1805, he 
commenced his long war against slavery, by ad¬ 
vocating the laying of a tax upon imported slaves. 
About this time trouble with Great Britain en¬ 
sued. Napoleon , was Emperor of France and 
was subduing the continental countries of Europe. 
England declared the French coast in a state of 
blockade; Bonaparte retaliated by declaring the 
British Isles in a similar condition. American 
commerce suffered greatly by these decrees. In 
1807, occurred the action between the Chesa¬ 
peake and Leopard. This led President Jefferson 
to refuse English ships the use of American 
waters, and Congress to lay an embargo upon the 


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. I9I 

commerce of the United States by not allowing 
American ships to leave our waters. This policy 
was bitterly opposed by the great majority of 
Federalists. Mr. Adams gave it his hearty ap¬ 
proval and support and was loudly denounced by 
his Federal colleagues. The Federalists were in 
a majority in Massachusetts, and elected Mr. 
Adams’s successor. Mr. Adams had nearly a 
year to serve in the Senate before his term ex¬ 
pired, but resigned, in order that his constituents 
might elect some one that would not be at vari¬ 
ance with their views. 

In 1804, Mr. Adams was offered the Presidency 
of Harvard College, but declined it, and was 
made Professor of Rhetoric and Belles-lettres but 
resigned in a short time. 

In March, 1809, Mr. Adams was appointed as 
American Minister to Russia, a place of great 
responsibility. He filled it well, and laid the 
foundation of the friendly relations still existing 
between the two governments. He won the 
personal friendship of the Czar, Alexander, who 
vainly endeavored to bring about a peaceful solu¬ 
tion of the difficulties between the United States 
and Great Britain. Mr. Adams was at the head 
of the American Commission that negotiated the 
treaty of Ghent with Great Britain, concluded 
December 24th, 1814. After this he went to 
England, and July 3rd, 1815, signed a commercial 


192 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


treaty with Great Britain; and thus amicable re¬ 
lations were again established with that nation. 
Sometime previous he had been appointed Minis¬ 
ter at the court of St. James. He entered upon 
the discharge of his duties, at which he continued 
with fidelity until 1817. 

James Monroe was inaugurated March 4th, 
1817. His great desire was to make his admin¬ 
istration non-partisan; to reconcile the different 
political parties and restore prosperity to the 
country. He looked about him for men of non¬ 
partisan records to fill his Cabinet; none stood 
better upon this subject than Mr. Adams; he 
was, therefore, called home to act as Secretary 
of State. Mr. Adams arrived at New York City 
in August, 1817, and was given a public recep¬ 
tion in Tammany Hall. He went to Boston, 
where like honors were conferred upon him, at 
which his aged father was present. In Septem¬ 
ber, he removed to Washington, where he began 
the work of Secretary of State under Mr. Monroe, 
remaining the entire eight years of his adminis¬ 
tration. His appointment was condemned by 
the friends of some men, whose paths to political 
glory he had crossed, but he was satisfactory to 
all foreign nations with which he had to deal, and 
contributed vastly toward making this adminis¬ 
tration a success. 

In 1817, the Seminole Indians, incited by British 


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 


195 

emissaries in Florida, began devastations upon 
our Southern frontier. General Jackson marched 
into that province, then a possession of Spain. 
He captured two British subjects, whom, after 
trial by court martial, were condemned to die; 
one was shot and the other hung. The British 
demanded reparation but Mr. Adams, in his 
diplomatic intercourse, succeeded in appeasing 
the British Cabinet and fully sustained General 
Jackson in his prompt and decisive action. 

This administration was very desirous of secur¬ 
ing the province of Florida; with it in the hand 
of some foreign power our nation was not safe. 
This object was attained by the diplomatic abili¬ 
ties of Mr. Adams, and the United States pur¬ 
chased Florida of Spain for the sum of $5,000,000 
and done away with this rendezvous of foreign 
nations. 

In 1821, occurred the Greek Revolution from 
Ottoman power. The Greeks had suffered great 
oppression and in their struggle for independence 
had the sympathy of the civilized world. They 
appealed to our republic for assistance but were 
reminded through Mr. Adams of the fixed prin¬ 
ciples of neutrality concerning European affairs 
that guided the action of the United States. 
Meetings were held all over the country and 
resolutions of sympathy were adopted, money, 
provisions and arms were sent to them and some 


i 9 4 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Americans enlisted in their armies to fight in the 
interest of humanity. 

During: Mr. Adams’s administration as Secre- 
tary of State, occurred the agitation of slavery 
subjects attending the admission of Missouri into 
the Union as a State. Mr. Adams had no direct 
influence upon the decision of these questions but 
was a very much interested spectator and hostile 
to the institution of slavery. He thought the 
framers of the Constitution had erred in com¬ 
promising with it. He believed that the Union 
could not exist permanently with slavery and also 
thought the fall of slavery would follow its disso¬ 
lution. “And if the dissolution of the Union must 
come,” Mr. Adams said, “let it come from no 
other cause but this. If slavery be the destined 
sword, in the hand of the destroying angel, which 
is to sever the ties of the Union, the same sword 
will cut asunder the bonds of slavery itself.” He 
thought the time was at hand to definitely settle 
the question of slavery, and said: “Time will only 
show whether the contest may ever be renewed 
with equal advantage,” and he wrote: “Oh, if but 
one man could arise with a genius capable of 
comprehending, a heart capable of supporting 
and an utterance capable of communicating, those 
eternal truths which belong to the question,— to 
lay bare in all its nakedness that outrage upon 
the goodness of God, human slavery,— now is 


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 


T 9S 

the time, and this is the occasion, upon which a 
man should perform the duties of an angel upon 
earth.” Again he wrote: “Slavery is the great 
and foul stain on the American Union, and it is a 
contemplation worthy of the most exalted soul, 
whether its total abolition is not practicable. 
This object is vast in its compass, awful in its 
prospects, sublime in its issue. A life devoted 
to it would be nobly spent and sacrificed.” 

During this administration a system of Internal 
improvements was adopted; not of the kind that 
are at times attempted, but were confined to such 
works as came strictly within the province of the 
national government, because of their magnitude 
or of there being several states interested. Mr. 
Adams was the philosopher of Monroe’s admin¬ 
istration. 

As Monroe’s administration drew to a close 
the question of a succession began to be agitated. 
The Federalists rallied to the support of John 
Quincy Adams. He was the candidate from 
New England. The newly forming Whig party 
supported its champion, Henry Clay of Kentucky. 
The old Democratic party which had for twenty- 
four years elected its President without a failure 
was divided between two candidates and conse¬ 
quently defeated, although at the previous 
election, all save one of the electoral votes were 
for Mr. Monroe, vTho conducted a very success- 


196 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


ful administration. The greater portion of the 
Democratic party favored General Jackson. The 
remainder were for William H. Crawford of 
Georgia, Monroe’s Secretary of Treasury. This 
campaign was an extremely bitter one. Each 
of the four rival candidates were well supported. 
The electoral college consisted of 261 members, 
131 constituted a majority. The electoral votes 
were as follows: Jackson, 99; Adams, 84; Craw¬ 
ford, 41; Clay, 37. No candidate had the major¬ 
ity required by the constitution and the duty of 
selecting the next President devolved upon the 
House of Representatives. Henry Clay wielded 
a powerful influence and the House of Represen¬ 
tatives elected Mr. Adams in February, 1825. 
Thirteen States voted for Adams, seven for Jack- 
son, and four for Crawford. John C. Calhoun of 
South Carolina, was chosen Vice-President. 

Mr. Adams, at about half-past twelve o’clock 
on March 4th, 1825, entered the hall of the House 
of Representatives and after delivering his inaug¬ 
ural address, took the oath as President prescribed 
by the constitution, it being administered by Chief 
Justice Marshall. The Senate, being in session 
at # the time, President Adams nominated his 
Cabinet, all of which were confirmed by unani¬ 
mous vote, except Henry Clay for Secretary of 
State. It was charged that this appointment was 
Mr. Adams’s part in a corrupt alliance with 


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 


197 


Henry Clay, according to which Mr. Clay had 
assisted to elect Mr. Adams President. After 
considerable opposition the appointment was con¬ 
firmed. The friends of the disappointed candi¬ 
dates, Jackson and Crawford, united their efforts 
to make Mr. Adams’s administration a failure. 
The legislature of Tennessee re-nominated Gen¬ 
eral Jackson for President, who at once resigned 
his seat in the United States Senate, that he might 
devote his entire attention to the canvass. The 
opposition to the administration the country over, 
rallied in support of his candidacy. The admin¬ 
istration was an exceedingly turbulent one. Its 
opponents shamefully assaulted it. 

Mr. Adams was the second President from the 
Northern States, his father the first. All the 
others were from the State of Virginia. He was 
the first who had not given service in the times 
of the Revolution, but having been born in the 
spirit of that age, was thoroughly conversant 
with the principles of the Government. 

In 1825, the Lake Erie and Hudson canal, 363 
miles long, traversing the center of New York, 
was completed. This was an improvement in¬ 
augurated by the State of New York, but owing 
to its extent and importance it assumed national 
value. The idea was originated by Jesse Hawley 
in a series of articles published in 1807 and 1808. 
It was advocated by Governors Morris and Clin- 


198 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


ton. DeWitt Clinton, while representative in 
the State Legislature, and Governor, labored in 
its interests, securing its erection, hence the name 
“ Clin torts Ditch.” 

Upon the 4th of July, 1826, the fiftieth anniver¬ 
sary of American Independence, occurred the 
death of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. 
This was a remarkable coincidence. They had 
both been signers of the Declaration of Independ¬ 
ence, members of the committee to draft the 
same, foreign ministers of the United States, and 
both Vice-President and President. President 
Adams’s mother died in 1818. Mr. Adams had 
the profoundest reverence for his parents and 
these deaths had a great effect upon him. Presi¬ 
dent Adams’s administration was attended with 
success and prosperity in all its forms, save the 
din occasioned by party strife. There were no 
foreign difficulties to adjust. Treaties were made 
with some Indian tribes. For a time it appeared 
there would be trouble with the authorities of 
Georgia, concerning the removal of the Cherokee 
and Creek Indians from certain lands in that 
State, but this was averted by their transfer to 
the wilderness west of the Mississippi river. 

May 5th, 1828, Congress adopted a high Pro¬ 
tective Tariff Bill. This inaugurated what Henry 
Clay, one of its chief advocates, called the “Amer¬ 
ican System.” This kind of legislation was very 


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 


1 99 


popular with some manufacturers of the North 
and equally unpopular with the planters of the 
South. 

In 1828, Mr. Adams was a candidate for re- 
election but was defeated by General Jackson. 
John C. Calhoun was re-elected Vice-President. 
The bitterness of this campaign was not much 
unlike civil war, but when the Democratic nomi¬ 
nee was elected the minority quietly submitted. 
Mr. Adams retired to his home at Braintree, 
Massachusetts, March 4th, 1829. 

While President, Mr. Adams advocated many 
national measures, upon which his views were in 
advance of his time. Among these we mention, 
the establishment of a system of national weights 
and measures, a National University, recom¬ 
mended by Washington, and a Naval Academy; 
in the first of these he had taken active interest. 

Mr. Adams was unquestionably the broadest 
statesman of his age. His breadth and depth of 
thought made him unpopular with many of the 
politicians of his time. He was a close and 
revering student of the Bible. In theology a 
Unitarian, but in deep sympathy with all Chris¬ 
tian sects. He possessed a store of historical, 
political, classical and scientific learning that 
proved invaluable to him in his debates and pub¬ 
lic speeches toward the end of his life. He was, 
perhaps, the most methodical diary keeper of all 
our public men. 


200 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


After retiring from the Presidency in 1829 he 
was permitted to remain in private life but about 
two years. In the autumn of 1830 he was elected 
to the laborious position of representative in Con¬ 
gress. Pie took his seat in the National House 
of Representatives, December, 1831, where he 
remained for over sixteen years, until his death, 
in February, 1848. While in this position he 
rendered the greatest services of his life. He 
esteemed the principles upon which our govern¬ 
ment is founded as the hope of the world and 
stood immovable for them and the truth. His 
power as an orator won for him the title of the 
“ Old Man Eloquent .” Mr. Adams was one of 
the hardest working members in the Plouse. 
Many times the first in his seat in the morning 
and the last at night. He served as a powerful 
check upon the pro-slavery party through those 
many years. Although scandalously abused, and 
threatened with censure, expulsion, and assassina¬ 
tion he stood undaunted in the interest of human¬ 
ity and national honor, never yielding an inch of 
ground. Upon taking his place in Congress, he 
was made chairman of the Committee on Manu¬ 
factures, and therefore, had the vexatious ques¬ 
tion of the tariff under his special consideration. 
The theory of protecting the home manufactures 
was favored by some whose private interests 
were involved, but was openly opposed by the 


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 


201 


professionally educated political talent of the 
South. The debates in Congress were exceed¬ 
ingly bitter. It seemed the Union might be torn 
asunder. In this political situation Mr. Adams 
did much as a pacifier. 

Mr. Adams deemed the right of petition as 
most sacred. His greatest efforts were concern¬ 
ing the abolition and regulation of slavery, par¬ 
ticularly in the District of Columbia. He presented 
as high as two hundred petitions in a single day, 
much to the aggravation and annoyance of his 
opponents. He often engaged in the fiercest of 
colloquies in which he invariably came off victor. 

In December, 1835, President Jackson informed 
Congress of the gift to the United States of 
$400,000 by James Smithson of England, for the 
erection of a National University. Mr. Adams 
was one of a committee to consider this affair 
and urged upon Congress the importance of such 
an institution to the nation and to mankind, and 
insisted upon the proper use of the funds. Con¬ 
gress made appropriations to assist in the estab¬ 
lishment of the Smithsonian Institute. 

In 1836, when Congress was considering the 
vote of $1,000,000, ostensibly for the prevention 
of the Indians in assisting the Mexicans to suppress 
the Texan Revolution, Mr. Adams delivered a 
speech in which he accused the administration 
of President Jackson of secretly favoring the 
revolt. 14 


202 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


In February, 1837, Mr. Adams arose and ad¬ 
dressing the speaker, said he had a petition, pur¬ 
porting to be from slaves, and inquired if the 
same should go with the general order for peti¬ 
tions concerning slavery, upon the table, without 
consideration, either by the House or committee. 
This act aroused the fiercest ire of Southern 
leaders, and they determined Mr. Adams should 
receive the rebuke of the House; accordingly, 
resolutions of censure were drawn. He defended 
himself with great valor, and at the end of an 
eleven days’ fight, but twenty votes could be 
found favoring the censure. 

Mr. Adams was anxious to engage in a dis¬ 
cussion upon the influences and bearings of 
slavery. To afford an opportunity for investiga¬ 
tion of this momentous topic, he proposes the 
following amendments to the Constitution of the 
United States on the 25th day of February, 1839: 

“ Resolved , by the Senate and House of Repre¬ 
sentatives in Congress assembled ,, two-thirds of 
both blouses concurring therein, That the follow¬ 
ing amendments to the Constitution of the United 
States be proposed to the several States of the 
Union, which, when ratified by three-fourths of 
the legislatures of said States, shall become and 
be a part of the Constitution of the United States: 

“1. From and after the 4th day of July, 1842, 
there shall be throughout the United States no 


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 


203 


hereditary slavery; but on and after that 
day, every child born within the United States, 
their territories or jurisdiction, shall be born 
free. 

“2. With the exception of the territory of Flor¬ 
ida, there shall henceforth never be admitted into 
this Union, any State, the constitution of which 
shall tolerate within the same the existence of 
slavery. 

“3. From and after the 4th day of July, 1845, 
there shall be neither slavery nor slave trade, at 
the seat of Government of the United States.” 

Mr. Adams at one time presented to the House 
of Representatives, a petition from forty-five citi¬ 
zens of Haverhill, Massachusetts, praying for the 
peaceful dissolution of the Union. 

In the last years of his life, Mr. Adams was in 
great sympathy with the newly inaugurated Tem¬ 
perance Reform movement, which he gave the 
support of his example and public utterance. He 
never lost an opportunity to give expression to 
his opinion, that our government was very unjust 
to both the Indian and Negro races. 

November 20th, 1846, while at the house of a 
son in Boston, Mr. Adams was the victim of a 
stroke of paralysis. He recovered sufficiently to 
take his seat in Congress the following Decem¬ 
ber, but never was able to enter into his labors 
with the zeal with which he formerly worked. 


204 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Mr. Adams possessed a strong physical system 
which he preserved by special care and temperate 
habits to advanced age. He was fond of swim¬ 
ming and other athletic exercises; he often walked 
several miles before breakfast. He was an early 
riser and frequently, while President, the first of 
the occupants of the White House to quit his 
bed. Sometimes he was up writing long before 
dawn. At half-past one o’clock, February 21st, 
1848, he met with another stroke of paralysis and 
was prevented from falling to the floor of the 
hall of the House of Representatives by members 
that sat near him. He was borne into the Speak¬ 
er’s room where he remained unconscious until 
about three o’clock, when he revived and said, 
“This is the end of earth , I am Content.” 
This was the last utterance of that great man. 
He died at seven o’clock in the evening of the 
23rd of February, 1848, in the eighty-first year 
of his life. Thus the spirit of John Quincy Adams 
quit the scenes of a life, nobly spent, one worthy 
of the deepest study and closest imitation by 
mankind. The following is an extract from a 
eulogy upon the death of John Quincy Adams, 
delivered by William H. Seward before the New 
York Legislature: 

“Stricken in the midst of this service, in the 
very act of rising to debate, he fell into the arms 
of conscript fathers of the Republic. A long 


• JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 


205 


lethargy supervened and oppressed his senses. 
Nature rallied the wasting powers, on the verge 
of the grave, for a brief period. But it was long 
enough for him. The re-kindled eye showed 
that the re-collected mind was clear, calm, and 
vigorous. His weeping family, and his sorrow¬ 
ing compeers were there. He surveyed the 
scene and knew at once its fatal import. He had 
left no duty unperformed; he had no wish un¬ 
satisfied; no ambition unattained; no regret, no 
sorrow, no fear, no remorse. He could not 
skake off the dews of death that gathered on his 
brow. He could not pierce the thick shades 
that rose up before him. But he knew that 
eternity lay close by the shores of time. He 
knew that his Redeemer lived. Eloquence, even 
in that hour, inspired him with his ancient sub¬ 
limity of utterance. “This,” said the dying man, 
“This is the End of Earth.” He paused for 
a moment; and then added, “I am Content.” 
Angels might well draw aside the curtains of the 
skies to look down on such a scene — a scene 
that approximated even to that scene of unap¬ 
proachable sublimity, not to be recalled without 
reverence, when, in mortal agony, One who 
spake as never man spake, said, ‘It is Finished.’ ” 
All that is mortal of this truly great man lies at 
the Unitarian Church, in Quincy, Massachusetts, 
of which the Adamses were members. Close by 


20 6 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


are the bodies of his father, mother and wife. 
Louisa Catharine Adams, who so admirably filled 
her stations as daughter, wife, and mother, rests 
by the side of him, whose partner she was 
through fifty years of varied life. This church is 
embowered with stately elm and chestnut trees 
imparting a silent splendor to the tomb that en¬ 
closes the sacred dust of the remains of great 
ones, that performed great deeds, in a great age 
of mankind. 





ANDREW JACKSON. 


207 


Chapter VII. 


ANDREW JACKSON. 

(^|eneral Andrew Jackson, seventh 
President of the United States, was born 
in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, 
March 15th, 1767. His parents were adherents to 
the Presbyterian faith, and of Scotch-Irish families. 
Scotch, by ancestry, and Irish, by their removal 
from Scotland to live in Northern Ireland. Here 
they suffered from England’s oppression of their 
adopted land which has ever been tyrannical in 
the extreme. Hoping to ameliorate their condi¬ 
tion by moving to a more genial climate, and a 
country where land was both cheap and plenty, 
they emigrated to the New World in 1765. This 
was the year of the enactment of the “Stamp 
Act” and the inauguration of British tyranny in 
America, which led to the Revolution and the 
foundation of a new government, in which the 
son of these poor emigrants was to play such an 
illustrious part. 

Jackson’s parents landed at Charlestown, South 


208 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Carolina, but located in the Waxhaw settlement 
on Waxhaw Creek, a tributary to the Catawba 
river, named for a tribe of Indians, that formerly 
occupied that neighborhood. This settlement 
was situated about 165 miles northwest of 
Charleston, in South Carolina, near the boundary 
line of the state. These parents had two small 
boys, Hugh and Robert. They lived in the 
Waxhaw settlement but little more than a year 
when the father and husband died, leaving the 
family in almost destitute circumstances. Mrs. 
Jackson removed to the house of her sister and 
brother-in-law, Mr. McKenny, a few miles over 
the line in North Carolina. Here, her third son, 
Andrew, named in honor of his father, was born. 
This child of poverty certainly arose to higher 
positions among men than the afflicted mother 
ever dreamed. It was her wish for him to be a 
Christian minister, but his fame was destined to 
shine from other paths. Three weeks after the 
birth of Andrew, Mrs. Jackson, leaving Hugh, 
her oldest boy, with Mr. McKenny, and taking 
the others with her, went to the house of her 
invalid sister, Mrs. Crawford and remained there 
for ten years, doing the family work. 

Andrew was sent to the schools of the neio;h- 

o 

borhood, where he learned to read and write 
tolerably well. Spelling was a more difficult 
task. He became reasonably familiar with the 


ANDREW JACKSON. 


209 


four fundamental rules of arithmetic. One of his 
biographies says he attended an academy held in 
Waxhaw meeting house, by Mr. Humphreys, 
where he made considerable advancement in 
mathematics and the classics and received a por¬ 
tion of the kind of an education his mother de¬ 
sired him to have. 

Jackson’s boyhood was at the time of the Revo¬ 
lutionary War. When eight years old he heard 
of the battles of Lexington and Bunker’s Hill. 
The Declaration of Independence resounded 
through the land when he was nine. Virginia 
and the Carolinas were kindled with the spirit of 
war through sympathy for New England. These 
stirring times, no doubt, had a telling effect upon 
the mind of Jackson. He grew up tall and slen¬ 
der, weak from too rapid a growth, and after the 
death of his mother, in the absence of her influ¬ 
ence and devotion to the interests of her son, 
became very profane. When at the age of thir¬ 
teen he witnessed the horrors of war and British 
brutality in the massacre of a patriot band under 
Col. Buford at Waxhaw creek. The old meet¬ 
ing house was converted into a hospital, where 
Andrew, his brother Robert, and his mother 
assisted in caring for the wounded. His brother 
Hugh died from over heat and exhaustion at 
Stono Ferry, whither he had gone with a patriot 
force to cut off the murderous Tarleton. Andrew, 


210 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


burning with desire to avenge the death of his 
brother and neighbors, at the young age of thir¬ 
teen entered the patriot service and participated 
in the battle of Flanging Rock. 

In August, 1780, a portion of Cornwallis’s army 
swept down and devastated the settlement of 
Waxhaw. Its inhabitants fled before them. Mrs. 
Jackson and her sons found refuge for a time 
among the patriot ancestors of President Polk, 
in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina. Some¬ 
time afterward about forty patriots were assem¬ 
bled at Waxhaw. A band of tories, pretended 
friends, but with British troops behind them, 
deceived, surrounded and captured them. The 
Jackson boys escaped into the woods, but the 
next day while taking a hasty meal, were sur¬ 
prised and captured. While in prison a British 
officer commanded Andrew to clean his boots 
whereupon Andrew replied, “I am a prisoner of 
war and not your servant.” The cowardly offi¬ 
cer struck at him with his sword. Raising his 
hand to ward off the blow, he received two 
wounds, one on his head and the other on his 
hand. The latter was visible throughout life. 
His brother received a like command but refused 
to obey. The tyrant dealt him a brutal blow 
that terminated in his death afterwards. The 
prisoners, with the Jackson boys among them, 
were hurried off on foot a distance of forty miles 


ANDREW JACKSON. 


211 


to Camden, South Carolina. Here they were ill- 
treated and poorly cared for. The dread disease 
of smallpox got among them. Mrs. Jackson, 
hearing of the fate of her boys, hastened to their 
relief. She procured their release by an exchange 
of prisoners and took them home. Here, within 
two days Robert died. Andrew had the small¬ 
pox and walked home through the rain. His life 
was despaired of for a time, but with a resolute 
will and strong constitution he eventually sur¬ 
vived the attack. As soon as his mother could 
leave him she went to care for the sick American 
prisoners at Charleston, where her sister’s boys 
were confined. While upon this errand of mercy, 
she died of ship-fever and was so obscurely buried 
that her resting place is unknown. Thus Presi¬ 
dent Jackson lost his mother and two brothers in 
the Revolution. He was bereft of all that was 
dear to him at this early age. These thrilling 
facts, no doubt, is ample reason for General 
Jackson’s dire hatred for England afterwards. 

At the close of the war Jackson thought of 
learning the trade of a saddler, and worked at it 
about six months in Charleston. Young Jackson 
allowed his board bill to accumulate. He re¬ 
ceived a challenge to place his horse, which was 
.his all, against $200 in a game. He accepted 
and won. He with iron will refused other invi¬ 
tations. He took his money, paid his board bill 


212 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


and left the town next morning upon horseback. 
From Charleston he went to Waxhaw and taught 
a crude school. Having determined to study law 
he went to Salisbury, N. C., where he remained 
for two years, until he was twenty years old. A 
portion of this time was spent in connection 
with the office of Mr. Spruce McCay. A biog¬ 
rapher says of him, “He was the most roaring, 
rollicking, game-cocking, horse-racing, card-play¬ 
ing, mischievous fellow that ever lived in Salis¬ 
bury.” When twenty years old he went to Mar¬ 
tinsville, N. C., and while waiting for an opening 
in his profession, worked for a year as clerk in a 
store. 

Jackson was appointed Public Prosecutor for 
the western portion of North Carolina, now Ten¬ 
nessee. This was a position hard to fill, and in 
which there was but little pay. But few men 
would accept it. Young ambitious Jackson could 
do no better. There was but two white settle¬ 
ments in Tennessee, one in the eastern part, of 
about sixty tents, called Jonesborough, and one 
at Nashville, which, with the isolated settlers in 
the neighboring forest, numbered about 5,000 
souls. The country was alive with war-like In¬ 
dian tribes. White travellers were in constant 
danger of being surprised and scalped. Jackson 
started for Nashville with a company of emi¬ 
grants. They reached Jonesborough, where they 


ANDREW JACKSON. 


2 I 3 


remained a few days to await the arrival of more 
emigrants and an escort from Nashville to guide 
them through the wilderness, a distance of two 
hundred miles. When they left this place the 
party consisted of nearly one hundred persons. 
The second night of the journey came near prov¬ 
ing to be fatal to this company. They had 
camped, and nearly all of them had retired to 
their tents; Jackson, while sitting and musing, 
was startled by curious noises. He listened again 
and again, and concluded that there were Indians 
in the neighborhood who meditated an attack 
before morning. He crept stealthily to his near¬ 
est companion whom he awoke. The party were 
all awakened and quietly took their leave of the 
place. Some hunters who camped at the same 
place about an hour afterwards were surprised 
and all but one massacred. Thus Jackson’s sa¬ 
gacity saved his party from entire destruction. 
They reached Nashville late in October, 1788. 
They took the news with them that the Consti¬ 
tution had been ratified by sufficient states to es¬ 
tablish it, and Washington would, in all proba¬ 
bility be chosen the first President. 

Previous to Jackson’s arrival there was but one 
lawyer in Nashville. He had given himself up to 
the roughs of society and delinquent debtors of 
the merchants. Another attorney was much 
needed by the best and monied element. Jack- 


214 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


son decided to locate here. He opened an office, 
and prepared seventy writs the first day. He re¬ 
ceived much collection work. The rough char¬ 
acter of some of the men he had to deal with 
occasioned numerous quarrels. Jackson’s daunt¬ 
less courage and business energy triumphed and 
gave him considerable professional work. Jack¬ 
son’s business as prosecutor called him often to 
Jonesborough and other scattering settlements. 
He travelled alone on horseback and was exposed 
to Indian warfare. His sagacity and courage 
saved his life many times. He was called by the 
Indians “Sharp Knife” and “Pointed Arrow.” 
Within a few years Jackson came into possession 
of considerable land and devoted some of his 
time to agriculture, of which employment he was 
always fond. 

When Jackson arrived at Nashville he took 
board at the house of the widow of Col. John 
Donaldson. Louis Robards and his wife Rachael 
were boarders at the same place. Mrs. Robards 
was a woman of much natural ability. Her dis¬ 
position was mirthful and social. Robards was 
exactly the opposite, and was jealous of his wife, 
leaving her, for a short time, before Jackson saw 
them. Robards, without the slightest cause, 
grew jealous of Jackson, who determined upon 
leaving the family, but sought an interview with 
Robards which, however, resulted in nothing but 


ANDREW JACKSON. 


2I 5 


a quarrel. Mrs. Robards determined upon a 
separation, and went with the family of an elder¬ 
ly minister to Natchez, Mississippi. Jackson, 
from his knowledge of the road and experience 
in travelling, was invited by the minister to ac¬ 
company them, which he did. This was in the 
spring of 1791. Robards applied to the Virginia 
Legislature for a divorce, which was granted, 
upon the condition that the Supreme Court was 
satisfied. It was generally understood in Nash¬ 
ville that the two had been legally separated. 
Mrs. Robards returned to Nashville in the autumn 
of 1791, when she and Jackson were married. 
In two years Robards obtained a divorce in a 
Kentucky court. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson were 
horrified to think they had not been legally mar¬ 
ried, although their intentions were perfectly 
honest. They at once had their marriage solemn¬ 
ized in a legal manner. Their associations were 
agreeable through life, and her death in 1828 was 
greatly lamented by Mr. Jackson. He frequently 
said that Heaven would be no Heaven to him un¬ 
less his wife was there. He was very sensitive 
concerning the unfortunate circumstances that 
surrounded his marriage, which were often- used 
against him by his political opponents. 

In January, 1796, a convention met a,t Knox¬ 
ville to model a State Constitution. The con¬ 
vention was composed of five delegates from 


216 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


each of the eleven counties. Mr. Jackson was a 
member from Davidson county. With this con¬ 
stitution Tennessee was admitted into the Union 
as a state June ist, 1796. The state now had a 
population of 80,000, and was entitled to one 
representative in Congress. Andrew Jackson 
was chosen to this position, and rode on horse¬ 
back to the capitol, then at Philadelphia, a dis¬ 
tance of eight hundred miles, and took his seat 
in December, 1796. He heard Washington’s 
Farewell Address and was one of the twelve 
members of Congress who could not say that his 
administration was wise, firm and patriotic. Al¬ 
bert Gallatin describes Jackson’s first appearance 
in Congress as follows: “A tall, lank, uncouth¬ 
looking personage, with locks of hair hanging 
over his face, and a cue down his back tied with 
an eel-skin, his dress singular, his manners and 
deportment those of a rough backwoodsman.” 
Jackson admired Thomas Jefferson and was, from 
his earliest manhood, a pronounced Democrat. 
He and many other Southern Democrats were 
slave-holders. They seemed to never realize 
that Thomas Jefferson, the founder of that great 
party, denounced slavery as undemocratic and 
unjust. 

In 1797 a vacancy occurred in the Senatorship 
of Tennessee. Mr. Jackson was elected to the 
position, but served it but a short time, resigning 


ANDREW JACKSON. 


217 


in 1798. Jackson returned home and was soon 
made a Judge of the Supreme Court of Tennes¬ 
see, which position he held for six years at a 
salary of six hundred dollars per annum. His 
decisions were noted for their rigid justice. Mr. 
Jackson, during his career as Supreme Judge, 
had engaged quite extensively in mercantile busi¬ 
ness with good success for a number of years. 
At last his partners began to fail. He had sold 
land to a man in Philadelphia, who failed to pay 
him. He was compelled to sell property to liqui¬ 
date all claims and start anew upon a small but 
surer basis. The mistakes that led to his finan¬ 
cial reverses were the mistakes of other men and 
not Jackson. 

For several years Jackson lived in quiet upon 
his estate, called the Hermitage. In 1806, he 
fought and killed Charles Dickinson in a duel. 
Mr. Dickinson was a young lawyer of Nashville 
and had many friends. Pie was considered as 
one of the best marksmen in the world. When 
he fired at Jackson, he broke one of his ribs and 
inflicted an ugly wound. Jackson never flinched 
but took deliberate aim killing his antagonist. 
This affair all grew out of a remark about Mrs. 
Jackson. It almost ruined the reputation of 
Jackson. He afterwards regained it by the vic¬ 
tories he achieved in war. He engaged in an 
animated dispute with Mr. Dinsmore, the agent 


15 


2 l8 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


of the Choctaw Indians soon after his duel with 
Dickinson. Still later occurred the senseless 
quarrel with the Bentons, in which Jackson re¬ 
ceived a wound that gave him much annoyance 
throughout the famous campaigns against the 
Southern Indians. 

Mr. Jackson was the informer to the govern¬ 
ment of what was supposed to be a treasonable 
plot upon the part of Aaron Burr. But, when 
he was brought to Richmond for trial Jackson 
championed his cause, believing him to be inno¬ 
cent. 

For several years Jackson had served as Major- 
General of the Tennessee militia. Upon the 
breaking out of the war of 1812, he,offered him¬ 
self at the head of 2,500 men for the service of 
the government. His offer was accepted and he 
was ordered to New Orleans. The infantry 
were sent upon boats and the cavalry went over¬ 
land. They were recalled before anything was 
accomplished. Jackson now offered their ser¬ 
vices for an invasion of Canada but hearing no 
response, after a time disbanded his army. 

August 30th, 1813, occurred the massacre of 
the garrison at Fort Minims by the Creek In¬ 
dians incited to hostilities by Tecumseh and Brit¬ 
ish emissaries. Jackson, while in bed suffering 
from the wound received in the quarrel with the 
Bentons, issued a call for troops to punish these 


ANDREW JACKSON. 


219 


Indians, and prevent a general uprising of that 
race against the United States in favor of the 
British. With his troops Jackson marched 
against the Creeks and defeated them in several 
successive battles. About 900 of their ablest 
warriors made a final stand upon the Tallapoosa 
river, where Jackson attacked their strong posi¬ 
tion March 27th, 1814. In this, the battle of 
Horse Shoe Bend, the Indians were nearly 
annihilated and the power of that race in North 
America forever broken. Jackson negotiated a 
treaty with the Creeks in 1814, according to 
which nearly the whole territory of Alabama was 
ceded to the United States. 

In the summer of 1814, Jackson moved against 
Fort Bowyer at Mobile, which was easily re¬ 
duced. Pensacola, Florida, was used by the 
British as a rendezvous. Jackson wrote for 
orders but receiving no reply, moved against the 
place and dispersed the British force. The fleet, 
about which he felt so much concern, moved to 
Louisiana. Jackson returned to Mobile, from 
whence he hastened to New Orleans, arriving 
there early in December, 1814. Upon the 14th 
of the same month the British fleet sailed up to 
within nine miles of the city. Upon the 15th, 
Jackson proclaimed martial law in New Orleans. 
Jackson’s force in the ensuing campaign num¬ 
bered about 4,000. The most of them were raw 


220 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


militia from Kentucky, Tennessee and Louisiana, 
assisted by a few regulars poorly equipped. All 
of these men had imbibed of the heroic spirit of 
their great leader. The British force was nearly 
three-fold that of the Americans, and were from 
the disciplined armies England had arrayed 
against Napoleon, a man much admired by Jack- 
son. They were armed and equipped according 
to the best art of war, and commanded by Sir 
Edward Packenham, skilled in military tactics 
and who had fought upon European battle fields. 
Jackson attacked them on the 23rd and showed 
them with what spirit they had to deal to capture 
New Orleans. He then fell back to within four 
miles of the city and hastily threw up breast 
works over a mile long, extending from the 
Mississippi river to a swamp, behind which his 
army awaited to dispute with signal success, the 
advance of the British troops. With their 
banners flying and bands of music playing, upon 
the 28th, the British columns advanced, confident 
of victory. Jackson’s spirit triumphed over army 
discipline and hurled the invaders back with 
great loss'. They advanced again the night of 
December 31st. The dense fog of New Year’s 
morning enveloped both armies. About ten 
o’clock it cleared away and left them ready to 
renew their work of destruction which began at 
once. The result of this attack was as inglorious 




ANDREW JACKSON. 


221 


to the British as the one before. They were 
chagrined and disheartened but determined upon 
another battle. The American army, elated 
with success, was joyous and happy, and watched 
the movements of the enemy with anxiety. In 
a few days General Jackson detected the design 
of the British general to move a portion of his 
army up the other side of the river. This neces¬ 
sitated the division of Jackson’s army. Upon 
Sunday morning, the eighth of January, 1815, 
one half hour before sunrise, the British, replen¬ 
ished in numbers, began to move forward. They 
came on steadily, resolutely, for the fourth time 
to be mown down by the deadly fire of Jackson’s 
men. Two hours of destruction to this proud 
army sent them back in confusion. Packenham, 
their brave leader had fallen mortally wounded. 
Their loss in killed and wounded was 2,600, that 
of the Americans, seven killed and six wounded. 
A more decisive and glorious battle had never 
been won by the Americans. This great vic¬ 
tory won for General Jackson, imperishable re¬ 
nown; all his faults in former years were hidden 
by the glorious victories he had achieved. 

After the close of the war of 1812 General 
Jackson retired to the Hermitage, where he 
remained but a short time. He was called to 
operate against the Seminole Indians who had 
begun depredations upon our southern frontiers. 


222 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Finding they had been incited to hostilities by 
British subjects in Florida, then a province of 
Spain, he marched into that territory, obtained 
possession of a fort at St. Marks, seized two 
British subjects, Arbuthnot, a Scotchman, and 
one Ambrister, who were court-martialed and 
sentenced to death. One was shot and the other 
hanged. He then marched to Pensacola and 
sent the Spanish governor to Havana. These 
actions were without authority. A portion of 
the people censured General Jackson for such 
summary dealings, while others believed him 
justified. Among the latter were President Mon¬ 
roe and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. 

In 1821, when Florida came into the possession 
of the United States, it was made a territory and 
Jackson appointed governor. He remained 
governor but a short time when he resigned. 
President Monroe offered to make him the 
American minister to Mexico. He did not 
accept but was nominated by the Tennessee 
Legislature as a candidate for the Presidency. 

In 1823, he was elected United States Senator, 
for a second time, from Tennessee. In the 
Presidential election of 1824 he received 99 elect¬ 
oral votes, more than any other of the four can¬ 
didates but not a majority of the 261 votes cast. 
The election went to the House of Representa¬ 
tives by which John Quincy Adams was chosen 





ANDREW JACKSON. 


22 3 


in February, 1825. The Tennessee Legislature 
renominated General Jackson for the Presidency, 
and around him rallied the opposition to President 
Adams’s administration. He resigned his place 
in the United States Senate that he might devote 
his entire time to the canvass. In the year 1828 
he was elected President, after an exceedingly 
bitter campaign by a decided majority over Pres¬ 
ident Adams. He received 178 of the 261 elect¬ 
oral votes cast. John C. Calhoun was re-elected 
Vice-President. 

Jackson was inaugurated March 4th, 1829. 
Chief Justice Marshall administered the oath of 
office. The President-elect was escorted to the 
Senate Chamber by a few surviving officers and 
soldiers of the old war for Independence. They 
had addressed him at Gadsby’s hotel and now in 
the presence of a large number of ladies, foreign 
ministers and chief officers of the government, he 
replied as follows: “Respected Friends: —Your 
affectionate address awakens sentiments and 
recollections which I feel with sincerity and 
cherish with pride. To have around my person, 
at the moment of undertaking the most solemn 
of all duties to my country, the companions of the 
immortal Washington, will afford me satisfaction 
and grateful encouragement. That by my best 
exertions I shall be able to exhibit more than an 
imitation of his labors, a sense of my own im- 


224 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

perfections, and the reverence I entertain for his 
virtues, forbid me to hope. To you, respected 
friends, the survivors of that heroic band that 
followed him, so long and so valiantly, in the 
path of glory, I offer my sincere thanks, and to 
Heaven my prayers, that your remaining years 
may be as happy, as your toils and your lives 
have been illustrious.” 

General Jackson commenced his administration 
as President with an inflexible* honesty that all 
admired. His presidency, not unlike the rest of 
his public life, was distinguished for its decision 
and firmness. He originated what has become 
known as “rotation in office” In so doing he 
removed many of his political opponents and 
supplied their places with partisan allies. 

In 1832, South Carolina, acting under the ad¬ 
vice of Mr. Calhoun, attempted to nullify the 
tariff law, and declared that if any efforts to col¬ 
lect the revenue, at the port of Charleston, be 
made, it would secede from the Union. Presi¬ 
dent Jackson ordered General Scott to Charles¬ 
ton with Federal troops. In the meantime, 
compromise measures proposed by Henry Clay, 
providing for a gradual reduction of the tariff for 
ten years, were adopted by Congress and quiet 
restored. 

In 1832, Congress passed a bill to re-charter 
the National Bank, which would otherwise have 


ANDREW JACKSON. 


225 


to close business at the expiration of its charter, 
in 1836. President Jackson in keeping with his 
previously announced opposition, vetoed it. This 
excited the business men of the country. The 
President proceeded to remove the National 
deposits from the National to the State banks, for 
which the Senate, March 28th, 1834, adopted a 
resolution censuring him. This resolution was 
expunged from the Journal of the Senate near 
the close of his second term. General Jackson’s 
policy was sustained by the democratic majority 
in the House of Representatives and vindicated 
by the people in the elections of 1832 by re-elect¬ 
ing him, and in 1836, by choosing Martin Van 
Buren his successor. In 1832 Jackson received 
219 of the 286 electoral votes cast. Martin 
Van Buren was at the same time chosen Vice- 
President. The removal of the deposits to the 
local banks made it easy for the people to borrow 
money and caused an era of speculation in west¬ 
ern lands and other things to set in, the results of 
which ripened during Van Buren’s administra¬ 
tion. 

In 1832, trouble broke out with the Sac and 
Fox Indians in Wisconsin, who refused to give 
up lands they had ceded to the United States. 
A military force was sent against them and they 
were soon compelled to abdicate their claims. 
Black Hawk, a famous Indian chief was taken 
prisoner. 


226 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


France had agreed to pay the United States 
$5,000,000 for injuries done our commerce, dur¬ 
ing the Napoleonic wars. President Jackson 
advised Congress to issue reprisals upon French 
commerce. The intervention of England secured 
the desired payment and war was averted. 

In 1835, trouble was had with the Seminole 
Indians by their refusal to leave lands, they had 
previously by treaty ceded to the United States. 
So warlike was Osceola, a noted chief, that Gov¬ 
ernor Tompson had him placed in irons. Feign¬ 
ing peace, he was released, when he plotted a 
general massacre of the whites. The governor 
and party were scalped while under the guns of 
Fort King. Upon the same day, December 
28th, 1835, Major Dade with a party of over 100 
men were surprised and massacred. But four of 
their number escaped and they afterwards died. 
After several fights the Indians took refuge in 
the almost impenetrable Everglades. of South 
Florida. Here they hoped to find a safe retreat. 
Colonel Taylor followed them, and in the hard 
fought battle of Okeechobee, December 25th, 
1837, the Indians were completely overthrown 
and their power forever broken, although hos¬ 
tilities were kept up with more or less vigor until 
the year 1842. 

March 4th, 1837, Gen. Jackson retired from 
the Presidency to his home at the Hermitage. 


ANDREW JACKSON. 227 

His war-like administration was successful, and 
is constantly gaining in the esteem of the Ameri¬ 
can people. He doubtless made some mistakes, 
“ ’Tis human to err,” and all men do, but his life 
was guided by a thoroughly honest and determined 
soul. 

Andrew Jackson’s great political maxim was, 
“Ask nothing but what is right—submit to 
nothing wrong A 

President Jackson, upon retiring from public 
life, delivered to the people of the United States 
a farewell address full of love for his country and 
solicitude for the preservation of the Union un¬ 
impaired. Its closing words are the following: 
“You have no longer any cause to fear danger 
from abroad; your strength and power are well 
known throughout the civilized world, as well as 
the high and gallant bearing of your sons. It is 
from within, among yourselves, from cupidity, 
from corruption, from disappointed ambition, and 
inordinate thirst for power that factions will be 
formed and liberty endangered. It is against 
such designs, whatever disguise the actors may 
assume, that you have especially to guard your¬ 
selves. You have the highest of human trusts 
committed to your care. Providence has show¬ 
ered on this favored land blessings without num¬ 
ber, and has chosen you as the guardians of free¬ 
dom, to preserve it for the benefit of the human 


228 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


race. May He, who holds in his hands the des¬ 
tinies of nations, make you worthy of the favors 
he has bestowed, and enable you, with pure 
hearts, and pure hands, and sleepless vigilance, to 
guard and defend to the end of time the great 
charge he has committed to your keeping. My 
own race is nearly run; advanced age and fail¬ 
ing health warn me that before long I must pass 
beyond the reach of human events, and cease to 
feel the vicissitudes of human affairs. I thank 
God that my life has been spent in a land of lib¬ 
erty, and that he has given me a heart to love 
my country with the affection of a son. And, 
filled with gratitude for your constant and un¬ 
wavering kindness, I bid you a last and affection¬ 
ate farewell.” 

General Jacxson’s home, The Hermitage , a 
two-story brick building, is situated eleven miles 
from Nashville upon the Lebanon turnpike. 
During the life of its great owner it was visited 
by many of the chief men of the nation, who 
came to see its illustrious possessor, but of late 
years it has been neglected and is fast going to 
decay. About fifty or sixty rods distant still 
stands the old house of wood that Jackson occu¬ 
pied before the erection of the Hermitage. His 
last few years were spent in quiet. His ferocious 
spirit was somewhat subdued. The death of his 
wife, December 22, 1828, had much to do with 


ANDREW JACKSON. 229 

this change. It caused him to meditate upon fu¬ 
ture conditions and things. Jackson was always 
a firm believer in religion as expounded by the 
Presbyterian church, and late in life became a 
member of that organization. 

Jackson died upon Sunday, June 8th, 1845, 
when in the seventy-ninth year of his age. He 
had embarked in public life at an early age. His 
ship had been freighted with many trusts and had 
a rough and stormy voyage through life. His 
soul now quietly anchors in Eternity. His mor¬ 
tal body lies buried beside his beloved wife, in 
the corner of the garden, about 200 feet from 
The Hermitage. The names Jackson and The 
Hermitage are as closely associated as Wash¬ 
ington and Mt. Vernon. 

Mr. Parton, in his admirable life of Jackson, 
says: “His ignorance of law, history, politics, 
science—of everything which he who governs a 
country ought to know,—was extreme.” It is said 
when he was elected President of the United 
States, he had never read a book through except 
“The Vicar of Wakefield.” Harvard College 
conferred the honorary degree of LL. D. upon 
him in 1833. Chief Justice Taney, at the time of 
his death, pays the following tribute to the mem¬ 
ory of Jackson: “The whole civilized world al¬ 
ready knows how bountifully he was endowed 
by Providence with those high gifts that qualified 


2 3 0 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


him to lead, both as a soldier and a statesman. 
But those only who were around him in the anx¬ 
ious hours of deliberation, when great and 
weighty interests were at stake, and who were 
also with him in the retired scenes of domestic 
life, in the midst of his family and his friends, 
can fully appreciate his innate love of justice, his 
hatred for oppression in every shape it could as¬ 
sume, his magnanimity, his entire freedom from 
any feeling of personal hostility to his political 
opponents, and his constant and unvarying kind¬ 
ness and gentleness to his friends.” 




MARTIN VAN BUREN. 


2 3 I 


Chapter VIII. 


MARTIN VAN BUREN. 



artin Van Buren, the eighth Presi¬ 
dent of the United States, was born at 


Kinderhook, Columbia county, New 
York, December 5th, 1782. His father, Abra¬ 
ham Van Buren, was of Dutch ancestry, his 
progenitors having emigrated from Holland. 
Abraham Van Buren’s business was that of a 
farmer and country tavern-keeper. The mother 
of President Van Buren was, also, of Dutch 
lineage, and was a woman of superior natural 
abilities. Martin was their eldest son. He be¬ 
came a general errand boy about the farm and 
tavern, which developed in him most useful hab¬ 
its of industry. In his father’s bar-room he 
learned to be courteous and to be a judge of hu¬ 
man nature. He was exceedingly precocious 
and completed his academic studies in his native 
village at the age of fourteen. 

Young Van Buren immediately commenced 
the study of the law, and pursued it with inde¬ 
fatigable zeal for seven years. His deficiency of a 


10 


232 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


college education made it necessary for him to 
study several years before entering upon a pro¬ 
fessional practice. Six of the seven years of his 
preparatory study were spent in the law office of 
Francis Sylvester, Esq., at Kinderhook. When 
twenty years old he went to New York City and 
spent a year with William P. Vanness, a lawyer 
of that place. While here he made the acquaint¬ 
ance of Aaron Burr, then in the midst of a very 
popular career. Van Buren and Burr were both 
high-minded men of fascinating appearance and 
fell mutually together as friends. But they dif¬ 
fered in this;—that Burr was an unscrupulous 
villain, while Van Buren was a man of irreproach¬ 
able morality. The Vanness, with whom Van 
Buren studied in New York City, afterward be¬ 
came noted by appearing as the second to Burr 
in the duel in which he killed Alexander Hamil¬ 
ton, at Weehawken, July n, 1804. 

In 1803 Van Buren returned to Kinderhook 
and was admitted to the bar when in his twenty- 
first year. He at once formed a partnership with 
his half brother, James I. Van Allen. While a 
boy at Kinderhook, Van Buren had often tried 
cases before justices of the peace with the signal 
success that foretold his being a great lawyer. 
He gave himself up to incessant hard work and 
gradually built up an extensive practice. In 1807 
he was admitted to the Supreme Court ? and in 


MARTIN VAN BUREN. 


2 33 


1808 was appointed Surrogate of Columbia coun¬ 
ty. He then removed to the county seat, Hud¬ 
son, which was a thriving city situated upon the 
Hudson River. Mr. Van Buren continued in his 
lucrative professional work for about twenty-five 
years, until called away by political duties. 

In 1806 Mr. Van Buren was united in marriage 
to Miss Hannah Hoes, a lady to whom he had 
been sincerely attached for several years. Their 
union proved to be mutually beneficent and prof¬ 
itable. Four sons were born to them. Mrs. 
Van Buren died of consumption in February, 
1819, after a married life of but twelve years. 
Mr. Van Buren remained a widower throughout 
the remainder of his life. 

Mr. Van Buren adopted the politics of his 
father, who was an enthusiastic Democrat. Jef¬ 
ferson was young Van Buren’s ideal statesman. 
He carefully studied his papers, letters and 
speeches. When but eighteen years of age he 
was a delegate to a convention to nominate a 
candidate for the legislature. He prepared and 
delivered an address to the electors. Many of 
the young man’s relatives were Federalists and 
that party was in the majority in New York. 
They urged him to change parties as a matter of 
business policy. But this he refused to entertain. 
Jefferson’s successful administration placed him 
firmly in the Democratic party. 


2 34 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


At the age of thirty Mr. Van Buren was 
elected to the State Senate after a closely con¬ 
tested fight. In 1815 he was elected Attorney 
General of New York, which was a marked rec¬ 
ognition of legal ability to be conferred upon one 
so young. He was also chosen a Regent to the 
State University, and in the spring of 1816 was 
re-elected to the Senate for a term of four years. 
In the same year he removed to Albany, the 
capital of the State. It was at this time that 
Dewitt Clinton was advocating internal improve¬ 
ment at State expense. The principal measure 
contemplated was the establishment of the Erie 
Canal, called Clinton's Ditch . In these matters 
Senator Van Buren supported Mr. Clinton. 

Mr. Clinton was elected the Democratic Gov¬ 
ernor of New York. Mr. Van Buren, in 1818, 
with a few friends, organized against him a Dem¬ 
ocratic club, known as the “Albany Regency.” 
This caused a division in the New York Democ¬ 
racy with Clinton and Van Buren as leaders of 
the opposing factions. Van Buren’s party finally 
triumphed, and the Albany Regency controlled 
New York politics for nearly twenty years. 

In February, 1821, Mr. Van Buren was elected 
United States Senator from New York, by its 
Legislature, for a term of six years. In the same 
year he acted as a member of a state convention 
to frame a new constitution for New York. His 


MARTIN VAN BUREN. 


2 35 


work here was acceptable to the members of all 
political parties. He advocated a proper re¬ 
strictive provision upon suffrage and thought that 
color should not be a sufficient ground for dis¬ 
franchisement. In the United States Senate he 
soon became a national democratic leader, the 
same as he had been in state affairs when a mem¬ 
ber of the New York Senate. In the Presiden¬ 
tial election of 1824 he espoused the cause of 
General Jackson with great ability. In Febru¬ 
ary, 1827, he was re-elected by the New York 
Legislature for another full term in the United 
States Senate, but upon the death of Governor 
Clinton, in 1828, he was chosen Governor of New 
York and resigned his place in the United States 
Senate. While in this capacity he was the author 
of the beneficent “Safety Fund” system of 
banking. 

While a member of the United States Senate 
he opposed Adams’s administration. In 1828, he 
exerted his wonderful skill in the management of 
political affairs to secure his defeat. Clay and 
Webster believed that Adams would be re¬ 
elected. In 1827, Mr. Webster wrote the follow¬ 
ing to Jeremiah Mason: “A survey of the whole 
grounds lead me to believe confidently in Mr. 
Adams’s re-election. I set down New England, 
New Jersey, the greater part of Maryland, and 
perhaps all Delaware, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, 


236 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

and Louisiana, for him. We must then get votes 
enough in New York to choose him, and, I think, 
cannot fail of this.” But when the time came 
Van Buren and the other democratic leaders 
inaugurated a storm which gave Jackson 178 
electoral votes, and Adams 83. No man con¬ 
tributed more to bringing about this result than 
did Martin Van Buren. He came to be looked 
upon, by some, as a sort of a magician in political 
affairs. When General Jackson was inaugurated 
as President in 1829, and introduced the principle 
expressed in these words, “ To the victor belongs 
the spoils —” he gave Martin Van Buren the first 
office in his power — that of Secretary of State. 
This appointment was a proper recognition of 
the valuable services rendered by the recipient 
in securing the election of its donor. It was 
satisfactory to his party and to the country gen¬ 
erally. While Secretary of State, Van Buren 
made political capital for himself by winning the 
favor or love, as it came to be, of President Jack- 
son, out of the Eaton social controversy which 
for two years shook Washington society, and 
finally ended in the dissolution of the cabinet. 

Van Buren was appointed American Minister 
to the court of St. James. He arrived in England 
in September 1831, where he was well received, 
because of his courtly manners and high stand¬ 
ing in his own country, but when the Senate met 


MARTIN VAN BUREN. 


2 3 7 


in the following December and came to consider 
his nomination, it was defeated, being opposed 
by Calhoun, Clay and Webster, who accused him 
of being too narrow a partisan to be the national 
representative abroad. It was in reference to 
this defeat that Calhoun said: “It will kill him, 
sir, — kill him dead. He will never kick, sir, — 
never kick.” The action of the Senate in refus¬ 
ing to confirm Van Buren’s nomination, aroused 
the President’s wrath, and he determined upon 
promoting him to the utmost of his power, as an 
effect of this Van Buren received the nomination 
for Vice-President in 1832, along with General 
Jackson for President and was elected by an 
overwhelming majority, receiving 189 electoral 
votes. Upon the 4th of March, 1833, Van Buren 
became the presiding officer over the Senate 
that had so recently refused to confirm his nomi¬ 
nation as foreign minister. His political opinions 
concerning national banks and the removal of 
national deposits to state banks agreed with those 
of his great chief and co-worker—President 
Jackson. 

As the candidate of the administration, Van 
Buren was nominated for President by the 
Democratic National Convention, upon the 20th 
of May, 1836. Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, 
was nominated for Vice-President. They were 
elected by overwhelming majorities. General 


238 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Harrison was the Whig candidate. Van Buren 
received 170 electoral votes out of 294. 

Upon the 4th of March, 1837, Mr. Van Buren 
was inaugurated President. This event was 
greatly desired by his predecessor; of which 
Parton says: “Leaving New York out of the 
canvass, the election of Mr. Van Buren to the 
Presidency was as much the act of General Jack- 
son as though the constitution had conferred 
upon him the power to appoint a successor.” 
Van Buren’s cabinet was composed largely of 
men who had been in Jackson’s. He at once 
gave notice that there would be no change of 
policy. The financial crisis of 1837 caused a 
change in the popular wave that had supported 
Jackson and Van Buren. The losses in New 
York City alone during March and April of this 
year were over $100,000,000. The New York 
Legislature authorized the suspension of specie 
payment for one year. Banks all over the country 
failed. Everything fell in price and confidence 
was everywhere destroyed. Eight states failed 
wholly or in part. The President called an extra 
session of Congress which met in September, 1837. 

A revolution broke out in Canada which was 
strongly sympathized with by many of our peo¬ 
ple. The President issued a proclamation against 
intervention and sent General Scott to the 
Canadian boundary. 


MARTIN VAN BUREN. 239 

Upon the 5th of December, 1839, the Whigs, 
in national convention, renominated General 
Harrison for President. Upon the 5th of May, 
1840, the Democrats, in national convention, re¬ 
nominated President Van Buren as their candi¬ 
date. The campaign was one noted for the en¬ 
thusiasm manifested. Mr. Van Buren was shame¬ 
fully misrepresented by his adversaries. The 
financial embarrassments from which the country 
was just emerging caused the people to lose con¬ 
fidence, for a time, in the Democratic party. Mr. 
Van Buren was overwhelmingly defeated, re¬ 
ceiving but 60 out of 294 electoral votes. 

Upon the 4th of March, 1841, Mr. Van Buren 
retired from the Presidency. In 1844 his name 
was presented to the Democratic National Con¬ 
vention for Presidential nomination, but was de¬ 
feated because of his opposition to the annexation 
of Texas. In 1848 Mr. Van Buren was made 
the candidate of the Free Soil Democrats for 
President, with Charles Francis A dams for Vice- 
President. They received a popular vote of 
300,000. From this time until his death Mr. 
Van Buren took no personal part in politics, but 
lived a quiet and happy retired life in his native 
village of Kinderhook. 

He travelled in Europe for two years and en¬ 
joyed much good society. Upon the breaking 
out of the late civil war he was in complete sym- 


240 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


pathy with the North, and was quick to proclaim 
the power of the National Government to coerce 
the seceding States. Near the close of his life 
he wrote a book entitled, “An Enquiry into the 
Origin and Course of Political Parties in the 
United States,” which was published by his son 
in 1867. 

Mr. Van Buren died upon the 24th of July, 
1862, when in the eightieth year of his age. His 
mortal part lies buried in the family lot in the 
Kinderhook cemetery. Governor Forsyth of 
Georgia, paid the following tribute to President 
Van Buren: “Long known to me as a politician 
and a man; acting together jn the hour of political 
adversity, when we had lost all but our honor; a 
witness of his movements when elevated to 
power, and in possession of the confidence of the 
Chief Magistrate and of a majority of the people, 
I have never witnessed aught in Mr. Van Buren 
which requires concealment, palliation, or color¬ 
ing; never anything to lessen his character as a 
patriot or a man; nothing which he might not 
desire to see exposed to the scrutiny of every 
member of this body, with the calm confidence 
of unsullied integrity. He is called an artful 
man, a giant of artifice, a wily magician. Those 
ignorant of his unrivalled knowledge of human 
character, his power of penetrating into the de¬ 
signs and defeating the purposes of his adver- 


MARTIN VAN BUREN. 


24I 


saries, seeing his rapid advance to power and 
public confidence, impute to art what is the 
natural result of those simple causes. Extra¬ 
ordinary talent; untiring industry; incessant 
vigilance; the happiest temper, which success 
cannot corrupt, nor disappointment sour, these 
are the sources of his unexampled success, the 
magic arts, the artifices of intrigue, to which only 
he has resorted in his eventful life. Those who 
envy his success may learn wisdom from his 
example.” 





242 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Chapter IX. 


WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



victed the king, Charles I 


olonel John Harrison was a soldier 
in the great civil war of Cromwell’s time, 
and one of the judges that tried and con- 
for which, and for the 
prominent part he took in the government under 
Cromwell, he was executed after the Restoration 
which occurred in 1660. Some of his descend¬ 
ants came from England to Virginia in early 
times. 

Benjamin Harrison, father of the ninth Presi¬ 
dent was a distinguished patriot of our revolu¬ 
tionary epoch. Lie was the personal friend of 
many of the great men of Virginia, among whom 
were Washington, the Randolphs, the Lees, 
Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. Benjamin 
Harrison served his state three times as Gover¬ 
nor, and as a member of the Continental Con¬ 
gress. He was a signer of the Declaration of 
Independence. He was chosen President of this 
assembly but with deference to Massachusetts 
and John Hancock he declined in favor of that 


WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 243 

gentleman. Hancock hesitated before accept¬ 
ing; Harrison who was a strong man, seized his 
small body and carried him amid shouts of 
laughter and placed him in the chair saying: 
“Gentlemen, we will show Mother Britain how 
little we care for her by making a Massachusetts 
man our President, whom she has excluded from 
pardon by a public proclamation.” Benjamin 
Harrison was a jovial man and often made jokes 
out of serious affairs. This was shown when the 
members of Congress were signing the Declara¬ 
tion of Independence, which, if they failed to 
maintain, was equivalent to their death warrants. 
Mr. Harrison, who was very heavy, turned to 
Elbridge Gerry, a man of small frame, and said: 
“Gerry, when the hanging comes I shall have the 
advantage. You’ll kick in the air half an hour 
after it is all over with me.” 

William Henry Harrison, the ninth President 
of the United States, was born at Berkley, 
Charles City county, Virginia, upon the ninth of 
February, 1773. He was born in a great age, 
just two years before the opening of the great strug¬ 
gle of the nation of which he became the chief 
executive. The thrilling events of the war for 
independence and the organization of the National 
Government must have had a great effect upon 
his youthful mind, and, no doubt, did much to 
mould it for the patriotic services of his life. 


244 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

Benjamin Harrison was in good circumstances 
and gave his children the benefit of a good edu¬ 
cation, which the subject of this sketch received 
from the common schools of Virginia and from 
Hampton Sydney College. From this institution 
he graduated. In accordance with the wishes 
of his father, he commenced the study of medi¬ 
cine under Dr. Benjamin Rush, of Philadel¬ 
phia, who was a signer of the Declaration of 
Independence. In 1791 his father died leaving 
him under the guardianship of Robert Morris, the 
distinguished financier of the revolution. 

Young Harrison determined upon a change of 
employment, and upon the counsel of President 
Washington joined the army in the Northwest. 
His guardian and most of his friends objected to 
this, believing his constitution not strong enough 
to stand the hardships of Indian warfare. Wash¬ 
ington got him a position as Ensign in the first 
regiment of U. S. infantry, and with it he jour¬ 
neyed on foot across the mountains to Pittsburg 
and joined the army at Ft. Washington, present 
site of Cincinnati, just after its defeat upon the 
Miami. Young Harrison, as a reward for meri¬ 
torious conduct, was soon made a Lieutenant. 
The government sent another expedition against 
the Indians under the intrepid General Wayne, 
who like his predecessor, General St. Clair, was 
of revolutionary renown. Wayne built Ft. Re- 


WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 


2 45 


covery upon the old battle field where St. Clair 
had been worsted. At this place several skirm¬ 
ishes occurred, in which young Harrison par¬ 
ticipated. The army marched from Ft. Recovery 
to the junction of the Auglaize and Maumee 
rivers, where Ft. Wayne was erected. Near 
this place, upon the 20th of August, 1794, a hard 
fought battle occurred. Two thousand Indian 
warriors were concealed in ambush when Gen¬ 
eral Wayne came upon them. The battle was a 
telling victory for civilization over barbarism; a 
triumph of intelligence over ignorance. It forced 
the Indians to cease their murderous depredations. 
For his conduct in this campaign Lieutenant 
Harrison was given a captaincy and the com¬ 
mand of Ft. Washington. 

Mr. Harrison was soon married to one of the 
daughters, of John Cleves $ymmes, one of the 
founders of the Miami settlement and upon a por¬ 
tion of whose land is now situated Cincinnati. 
Mr. Harrison was a man of strictly temperate 
habits. He saw the evil effects of liquor while 
in the army and set an example of total absti¬ 
nence before his comrades. In 1791 he became a 
member of an abolition society in Virginia, the 
object of which was to better the condition of the 
slaves and secure their emancipation when that 
could be accomplished by legal means. 

Captain Harrison remained in command of 


246 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

Fort Washington until April, 1798, when he re¬ 
signed in order to accept the secretaryship of the 
Northwest Territory. In the following year he 
was chosen the delegate to Congress for the 
Northwest Territory, and attended one session. 
His labors proved to be of great value in the 
development of the vast territory which he repre¬ 
sented. According to the law at that time the 
public domain could not be sold in tracts of less 
than four thousand acres. Mr. Harrison secured 
the enactment of a law by which the public land 
was sold in alternate sections of 640 and 320 
acres; this was not as much as he desired but was 
all that could be got at that time. 

When the Northwest Territory was divided 
and the territories of Ohio and Indiana erected, 
Mr. Harrison was appointed Governor of the 
latter, and was subsequently reappointed by 
Presidents Jefferson and Madison. This was 
before “rotation in office” came into style. In 
this position he remained for twelve years, from 
1801 to 1813. In addition to this trust he was 
soon made governor of the Upper Louisiana 
Territory, so that he ruled with the power of a 
king over a vast domain. This power was never 
abused. He had innumerable opportunities for 
personal gain through his official capacity but did 
not take advantage of them in any way. He 
negotiated treaties with the Indians during his 


WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 247 

gubernatorial term and obtained for his govern¬ 
ment more than 60,000,000 acres of land over 
which civilization has since spread. No man 
has done more for the advancement of our terri¬ 
torial development than Governor Harrison. His 
transactions were perfectly clean. Dishonesty in 
official capacity never entered his mind. A for¬ 
eigner named McIntosh accused him of defraud¬ 
ing the Indians in the treaty at Ft. Wayne. 
Governor Harrison demanded that the charge be 
investigated by a court of justice. The court not 
only vindicated his honor but fined McIntosh four 
thousand dollars. This money was divided by 
Governor Harrison, one-third was given to the 
children of deceased soldiers and the remainder 
returned to McIntosh as an act of mercy. 

In 1806 two Indians of unusual ability, Te- 
cumseh, “The Crouching Panther,” and his half- 
brother Olliwacheca, “The Prophet,” plotted a 
combination of the tribes against the encroach¬ 
ing white settlements. The Prophet urged the 
Indians to stand aloof from the customs of the 
whites. Tecumseh went from tribe to tribe 
urging the Indians everywhere to join him in his 
secret hostile conspiracy. Depredations by the 
baser Indians were commenced at once, which 
foretold the meditated uprising. In 1809, Te¬ 
cumseh, at the head of 400 warriors, visited 
Governor Harrison at his camp at Vincennes. A 


17 


248 AMERICAN ' PRESIDENTS. 

great conference was held by the Governor and 
Tecumseh upon the 12th of August of this year, 
at which this talented chief disclaimed any hos¬ 
tile intention towards the whites; but said that no 
more land should be given up by a single tribe, 
but that the consent of all the tribes would be 
necessary. He accused Governor Harrison ot 
having defrauded the Indians in the recent treaty 
at Ft. Wayne, and said that the lands ceded by 
the treaty should not be given up. Governor 
Harrison, being desirous of preserving peace 
with the Indians, determined upon a visit to the 
Prophet at Tippecanoe. He took .with him a 
military force of nearly 1,000 men, hoping to 
overawe the Indians and in that way avert hos¬ 
tilities. He arrived within three miles of their 
town upon the 6th of November, 1811. The 
Indians met him and asked why he came so near 
with so large a military force. They were in¬ 
sured by the Governor of friendly intentions, and 
arrangements were made for the council fire 
upon the following day. Governor Harrison, ac¬ 
customed to Indian treachery, ordered his men 
to sleep upon their arms. At about fifteen min¬ 
utes after 4 o’clock on the following morning his 
camp was attacked by the Indians. The battle 
was bloody and lasted until after dawn. The 
Indians were defeated, leaving upon the ground 
61 killed and 120 wounded. Governor Harri- 


WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 249 

son’s loss was nearly as great. This battle would 
have doubtless ended the Indian troubles, had it 
not been for Tecumseh, who was in the south in¬ 
citing the Indians to hostilities, at the time the 
battle was fought, and the war between the 
United States and England so shortly following. 

In 1812 Governor Harrison was given a com¬ 
mand in the Kentucky militia, but was soon after 
made Commander-in-chief of the United States 
Army of the Northwest. General Harrison was 
besieged in Ft. Meigs early in 1814 by Proctor. 
The assailants were compelled to raise the siege 
after it had been kept up by them for eight days. 
After this, Harrison quartered himself at San¬ 
dusky Bay, where he remained until after Perry’s 
victory upon Lake Erie. He then moved across 
the lake to attack Proctor and Tecumseh, who 
were then in command of a motley force of 
British and Indians at Ft. Malden. The enemy 
fled upon Harrison’s approach, but were over¬ 
taken at the river Thames, where, on the 5th of 
October, 1813, a decisive American victory was 
won. The British troops were soon surrounded. 
Proctor escaped on horseback. The Indians 
fought bravely, but Tecumseh being shot, they 
fled in confusion. This battle terminated the war 
in the west. After it, the command of General 
Harrison being limited by the Secretary of War, 
General Armstrong, to the eighth military dis- 


250 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


trict, he resigned and retired to his farm at North 
Bend, Ohio, to engage in the peaceful pursuits of 
agriculture. Congress passed the following reso¬ 
lution acknowledging the invaluable services of 
General Harrison: “Resolved, by the Senate and 
House of Representatives of the United States 
of America in Congress assembled, That the 
thanks of Congress be and they are hereby pre¬ 
sented to Major General William Henry Harrison 
and Isaac Shelby, late Governor of Kentucky, 
and through them to the officers and men of 
their command, for their gallant and good con¬ 
duct in defeating the combined British and Indian 
forces under Major General Proctor, on the 
Thames in Upper Canada, on the fifth day of Oc¬ 
tober, 1813, capturing the British army, with 
their baggage, camp equipage and artillery; and, 
that the President of the United States be re¬ 
quested to cause two gold medals to be struck, 
emblematical of this triumph, and presented to 
General Harrison and Isaac Shelby, late Govern¬ 
or of Kentucky.” 

While General Harrison was Governor of In¬ 
diana Territory, he concluded thirteen -treaties 
with various Indian tribes. In 1814 he was ap¬ 
pointed, along with Governor Shelby of Ken¬ 
tucky and General Cass, to treat with the In¬ 
dians. A new and important treaty was nego¬ 
tiated at Greenville, Ohio. In 1815 Mr. Harrison 


WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 25 1 

concluded an important treaty with nine Indian 
tribes at Detroit. 

In 1816, Mr. Harrison was elected by his dis¬ 
trict to fill a vacancy in the national House of 
Representatives. He was re-elected to the next 
Congress, and, in 1818, declined to be a candi¬ 
date. While in Congress he voted in favor of 
the resolution censuring General Jackson for his 
action in the Seminole War, Florida. The fol¬ 
lowing is an extract from his speech made before 
Congress in its favor: “I am sure, sir, that it is not 
the intention of any gentleman on this floor, to 
rob General Jackson of a single ray of glory; 
much less, to wound his feelings or injure his 
reputation. If the resolutions pass I would ad¬ 
dress him thus: Tn the performance of a sacred 
duty, imposed by their construction of the con¬ 
stitution, the representatives have found it neces¬ 
sary to disapprove of a single act of your brilliant 
career. They have done it with the full convic¬ 
tion that the hero who has guarded her rights in 
the field, will bow with reverence to the civil 
institutions of his country; that he has admitted 
as his creed, that the character of the soldier can 
never be complete without eternal reverence to 
the character of the citizen. Go, gallant chief, 
and bear with you the gratitude of your country; 
go under the full conviction, that as her glory is 
identified with yours, she has nothing more dear 


252 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

to her than her laws, nothing more sacred than 
her constitution. Even an unintentional error 
shall be sanctified. It will teach posterity that 
the government which could disapprove the con¬ 
duct of a Marcellus, will have the fortitude to 
crush the vices of a Marius.’ ” 

In 1819, General Harrison was chosen a mem¬ 
ber of the Ohio State Senate, in which position 
he remained for two years. In 1824, he became 
one of the United States Senators from Ohio. In 
this body he served his country as an able legis¬ 
lator for four years. In 1828, he was appointed 
by President Adams Minister to the United States 
of Columbia, but was recalled upon the accession 
of President Jackson. Before returning to the 
United States, Mr. Harrison addressed an able 
letter to his friend, Bolivar, concerning the pro¬ 
posed conversion of the Republic of Columbia 
into a monarchy, with him as King, from which 
the following is taken: “A successful warrior is 
no longer regarded as entitled to the first place 
in the temple of fame. In this enlightened age, 
the hero of the field, and the successful leader of 
armies, may, for the moment, attract attention; 
but it is such as will be bestowed upon the pass¬ 
ing meteor, whose blaze is no longer remembered 
when it is no longer seen. To be esteemed 
eminently great, it is necessary to be eminently 
good. The qualities of the hero and the general 


WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 


253 


must be devoted to the advantage of mankind 
before he will be permitted to assume the title of 
their benefactor. If the fame of our Washington 
depended upon his military achievements, would 
the common consent of the world allow him the 
pre-eminence he possesses? The victories at 
Trenton, Monmouth, and Yorktown, brilliant as 
they were, exhibiting, as they certainly did, the 
highest grade of military talents, are scarcely 
thought of. The source of veneration and esteem 
which are entertained by every class of politi¬ 
cians— the monarchist and aristocrat, as well as 
the republican — is to be found in his undeviating 
and exclusive devotedness to his country. No 
selfish consideration was ever suffered to intrude 
itself into his mind. General, the course which 
he pursued is open to you; and it depends upon 
yourself to attain the eminence which he has 
reached before you/’ 

Upon his return home he retired to his farm at 
North Bend, Ohio, and devoted his attention to 
agriculture for about ten years. In 1836, he was 
the Whig candidate for President, but was de¬ 
feated by Martin Van Buren, the Democratic 
candidate. The National Whig Convention as¬ 
sembled at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, December 
5th, 1839, re-nominated General Harrison for 
President along with John Tyler of Virginia, for 
Vice-President. President Van Buren was a 


2 54 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


candidate for re-election. The Whigs during 
this campaign cried: “Hurrah for Tippecanoe and 
Tyler too.” The fact that General Harrison had 
lived in a log cabin was alluded to as a reproach. 
They said he lived in a log cabin and had nothing 
but hard cider to drink. His friends were quick 
to take advantage of these remarks and created 
a popular uprising in favor of their candidate. 
“Hard cider” became a party watchword. The 
campaign was distinguished for long processions 
of which log cabins formed an important feature. 
Harrison was elected by an overwhelming ma¬ 
jority. The electoral vote was; Harrison 234, 
VanBuren, 60. 

General Harrison was inaugurated President 
on the 4th of March, 1841. The oath of office 
was administered by Chief Justice Taney. Im¬ 
mediately after inauguration President Harrison 
was beset by a throng of office seekers, composed 
of political friends and supporters, whose desires 
he was anxious to gratify. He therefore gave 
himself up to incessant labor. The most impor¬ 
tant event of his brief administration was the 
calling March 17th, of an extra session of Con¬ 
gress to meet on the 31st of May, to consider the 
financial distress and revenue of the country. Mr. 
Harrison’s administration was a short one, last¬ 
ing but a single month. His final illness was of 
eight days duration, from which he was relieved 


WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 


2 55 


by death upon the 4th of April, 1841, when en¬ 
tering upon the 69th year of his age. The Vice- 
President, John Tyler, took the oath of office as 
President and entered upon its duties on the 6th 
of the same month. Mr. Harrison’s Presidential 
term is the shortest in the history of our govern--" 
ment. He was the first man to die while per¬ 
forming the duties of that position. His last 
words were uttered, when thinking he was ad¬ 
dressing his successor, he said: “Sir, I wish you 
to understand the principles of the government. 

I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more.” 
The grief produced by this national calamity was 
great and profound. The funeral took place in 
Washington City on the 7th of April. Funeral 
ceremonies were also held in most of the cities 
and towns in the Union. The 14th of May was 
designated by President Tyler as one to be ob¬ 
served with fasting and prayer. The remains ol 
President Harrison lie buried at his home, North 
Bend, fifteen miles west of Cincinnati. No 
monument or slab marks his resting place. 



256 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Chapter X. 


JOHN TYLER. 



OT unlike the other Presidents from Vir¬ 
ginia, Tyler had a noble ancestry. He 
came into the world with the advantages 
inherited, intelligence and good social sur¬ 
roundings. 


Mr. Tyler, the tenth President of the United 
States, was born in Charles City county, Virginia, 
March 20th, 1790. It is said that Walter or Wat 
Tyler, who led a rebellion in England during the 
fourteenth century, was one of his ancestors. 
For many years his grandfather was Marshal of 
the Colony of Virginia; his father served as 
Speaker of the House of Delegates; as Governor 
of his State, and as Judge of one of its highest 
courts. In 1812 he was appointed a Judge of a 
Court of Admiralty by President Madison. Pie 
died in February, 1813, crowned with years of 
honor, and left three sons, John, Wat and Wil¬ 
liam, to carry forward their illustrious family his- 
tory. 

At the early age of twelve, young Tyler had 


JOHN TYLER. 


257 


obtained a fair knowledge of the common 
branches in his neighborhood schools, and en¬ 
tered William and Mary College. He graduated 
at the age of seventeen. His commencement 
address, upon the subject of “Female Education,” 
was a masterly production and contained many 
ideas that were in advance of that age of the 
world. 

For two years Mr. Tyler studied law with his 
father and Edmund Randolph, who was among 
the greatest of Virginia lawyers. He was ad¬ 
mitted to the bar at the age of nineteen, and im¬ 
mediately entered upon an extensive practice of 
his profession. In three months there was 
scarcely a disputable case upon the docket in 
which he was not retained. He became known 
as the a Boy Lawyer,” and was looked upon as a 
sort of prodigy. At the age of twenty he was 
proposed as a candidate for the State Legisla¬ 
ture, but declined. He was elected the next 
year, (1811) and re-elected the four succeeding 
years by majorities that well nigh approached 
unanimity. Mr. Tyler was in politics a member 
of the Jeffersonian school, believing in the Fed¬ 
erative view of the constitution, that is, that the 
States are sovereign powers, and the national 
government is but a league between the sover¬ 
eign States. His career in the Virginia Legis¬ 
lature was at the time of the second war with 


258 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Great Britain, which he zealously supported 
along with the general policy of President Madi¬ 
son’s administration. While the British were in 
Chesapeake bay, in 1814, he endeavored to or¬ 
ganize the militia of his own locality, and form 
a company of volunteers to assist in driving out 
the invaders, but, before his plans were matured, 
the enemy had ceased its ravages, had gone, and 
his military services were not needed. 

Mr. Tyler was a believer in the “Right of In¬ 
struction,” according to which, congressmen 
were bound to obey the wishes of their States in 
national affairs. In 1815 he was elected a mem¬ 
ber of the Executive Council of Virginia, and 
continued in that position until the autumn of 
1816, when he was elected to a seat in Congress 
to fill a vacancy. Here he took his seat when 
but twenty-six and one-half years of age. This 
contest was exceedingly close. His opponent 
was Andrew Stevenson, who entertained the 
same political faith as himself. In the following 
year, (1817) he was re-elected to Congress by a 
large majority, and was returned again in 1819. 
While in Congress he opposed protective tariffs 
and internal improvements at national expense. 
He labored earnestly in behalf of his favored po¬ 
litical doctrines. By overwork he so lost his 
health that he was compelled to resign his seat, 
and retire to his estate in order to regain it. 


JOHN TYLER. 


2 59 


In 1823 he was returned to his State Legisla¬ 
ture, where he advocated internal improvements 
at State expense, and was the cause of consider¬ 
able being effected in this direction. In 1825 he 
was chosen Governor of Virginia, and again the 
following year he was accorded the same honor. 
John Randolph of Roanoke, was at that time 
United States Senator from Virginia. Many of 
the Democrats of that State were displeased with 
him and united their efforts to elect Governor 
Tyler his successor, believing him the only per¬ 
son strong enough to accomplish their desires. 
Their efforts were awarded with success in 1827. 
Immediately upon taking his seat in the Senate, 
Mr. Tyler allied himself with the opposition to 
President Adams’s administration, and exerted 
himself in the interest of his own political theories, 
particularly concerning the power of the national 
and state governments. After Mr. Adams closed 
his administration and was succeeded by Presi¬ 
dent Jackson, Mr. Tyler found in the chief 
executive a man whom he could willingly sup¬ 
port. He approved the course of President 
Jackson’s administration in the main. He opposed 
the re-chartering of the National Bank as well as 
protective tariffs. Against the latter he made a 
three days speech. It was during Jackson’s ad¬ 
ministration that South Carolina attempted the 
nullification of the national tariff laws. In this 


z6o 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


affair, Mr. Tyler gave his unqualified support to 
Mr. Calhoun and South Carolina. He was the 
sole opponent in the Senate ot the Force Bill that 
was passed against them in 1833. He agreed 
with the President concerning the re-chartering 
of the National Bank, but opposed him in the 
removal of the deposits to the State banks, upon 
the ground that it was unlawful, and voted for 
the resolution of March 28th, 1834, censuring 
him for this act. In March, 1835, Mr. Tyler was 
elected President pro tempore , by the combined 
votes of the Whig and States Rights Senators. 
He was nominated by the National Whig Con¬ 
vention the same year, (1835) for Vice-President 
along with General Harrison for President. Both 
were defeated, Tyler received 47 electoral votes. 
In February, 1836, the Virginia Legislature 
adopted a resolution instructing its Senators to 
vote for the expunging of the resolution censur¬ 
ing President Jackson. Mr. Tyler could not 
obey as he did not believe in the expunging doc¬ 
trine, but, as he was a believer in the Right of 
Instruction, neither could he disobey without 
forfeiting his integrity. No consistent alternative, 
save resignation was left for him, which was, 
therefore, the course he adopted. 

In the spring of 1836, he was again elected to 
the Legislature of Virginia. He acted with the 
Whigs in opposition to Van Buren’s administra- 


JOHN TYLER. 


261 


tion, and in 1839 was sent as a delegate to their 
National Convention at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 
He favored the nomination of Henry Clay and is 
said to have wept when his favorite was refused 
and General Harrison nominated. He was unani¬ 
mously nominated as the candidate for Vice- 
President and was very popular with his party, 
in the partisan cry, “Hurrah for Tippecanoe and 
Tyler too.” They sang praises to him with as 
much enthusiasm as to General Harrison. Mr. 
Tyler received 234 electoral votes and was in¬ 
augurated Vice-President, March 4th, 1841. 

Just one month from the date of his inaugura¬ 
tion President Harrison died, (April 4th, 1841). 
The duties of that office now devolved upon Mr. 
Tyler. He took the oath of office prescribed by 
the constitution on the 6th day of April, 1841, 
and retained the cabinet selected by President 
Harrison. Congress met in extra session on the 
31st of May following. Its chief duty was to 
consider the financial troubles of the country. It 
repealed the Sub-Treasury Act and enacted a 
general Bankrupt Law. It endeavored to estab¬ 
lish a Fiscal Bank. Two bills with this end in 
view were passed but vetoed by the President. 
This led to the dissolution of the cabinet in the 
following September, at which time all the mem¬ 
bers resigned except Mr. Webster, who remained 
to complete pending negotiations with Great 


262 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Britain concerning the settlement ot the North¬ 
eastern boundary of the United States. This was 
peacefully adjusted by the Ashburton treaty which 
was concluded the following year, after which 
Mr. Webster also resigned. The President was 
denounced by the Whigs who had elected him. 
He replied that he had never favored the meas¬ 
ures he then opposed. Mr. Tyler’s administration 
as President, for the want of any political sup¬ 
port, may be said to have been a failure. 

In 1842, occurred the return of the exploring 
expedition under Lieutenant Wilkes. It had 
been gone for several years, exploring in south¬ 
ern latitudes and had traveled over ninety thou¬ 
sand miles. The same year occurred Dorr’s 
Rebellion in Rhode Island, which grew out of an 
attempt to adopt a new constitution, instead of 
the old charter granted by Charles II., 1663, and 
under which it had existed for one hundred and 
eighty years. Each of the contending parties 
adopted a constitution, and endeavored to estab¬ 
lish them by a force of arms. It became neces¬ 
sary to invoke national aid that order might be 
restored and one of the constitutions recognized. 
An important event of Mr. Tyler’s administration 
was the concluding of a treaty with China. This 
was accomplished through the agency of Caleb 
Cushing of Massachusetts. 

The question of the annexation of the Inde- 


JOHN TYLER. 


2 63 


pendent Republic of Texas to the United States 
was becoming greatly agitated, and constantly 
gaining in the favor of the people. The South 
favored the proposition, as it would afford an op¬ 
portunity for the extension of slavery. The 
North opposed it for the same reason. A joint 
resolution annexing it was adopted by both 
Houses of Congress on the 1st day of March, 
1845, an d signed by the President the same day. 
Mr. Tyler’s last official act as President was the 
signing of a bill, March 3d, 1845, admitting Flor¬ 
ida into the Union as a State. 

Upon the 4th of March, 1845, he retired from 
the Presidency, to his home at Sherwood Forest, 
Charles City county, Virginia. Here he re¬ 
mained in the quiet practice of his profession 
until 1861, when he was made President of a 
peace convention, assembled at Washington for 
the purpose of devising compromise'measuresjx) 
avert the then pending Civil War; all attempts at 
reconciliation having failed, and war having be¬ 
come a certainty, Mr. Tyler casf hisjortunes with 
his State, Virginia, and joined the Confederate 
cause. He was elected a member of the Con¬ 
federate Senate from Virginia, and while attend¬ 
ing the Congress of that government, he ( was 
taken sick and died in the course of a few days 
at Richmond, Virginia, on the 18th of January, 
1862, surrounded only by a few friends. He 


18 


264 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


lies buried in Hollywood cemetery, near Rich¬ 
mond, without monument or other structure to 
mark his resting place. His grave is only about 
thirty feet from that of President Monroe. At 
the time of his death the Legislature of Virginia 
adopted resolutions of respect and sorrow, and 
directed the Governor to have erected an appro¬ 
priate monument to designate his burial place, 
but these directions were never carried into 
effect. President Tyler’s name stands associated 
with the desolation brought upon a country by 
the most ill-judged rebellion ever waged against 
a fair and indulgent government. Pity is stronger 
than blame in all generous minds toward him. 
President Tyler was one of the honored and im¬ 
mortal few that “were not born to die” and the 
national government, it is hoped, will ere long 
cause some sort of a monument to be erected to 
the memory of ex-President Tyler. 



JAMES K. POLK. 


265 


Chapter XI. 



JAMES K. POLK, 


Erg' resident Polk’s ancestors lived in 
Mecklenburg county, North Carolina. 

They were of Scotch-Irish descent. 
Robert Polk emigrated from the north of Ireland 
between the years 1735 and 1740. He had three 
sons: Thomas, Ezekial and Charles. Ezekial 
Polk was the grandfather of the eleventh Presi¬ 
dent of the United States. In revolutionary 
times the Polks were all burning patriots. It 
was among them and their neighbors that An¬ 
drew Jackson and his mother found shelter after 
the massacre at Waxhaw settlement in 1780. 
Early in 1775, the people of Mecklenburg coun¬ 
ty, having heard of the British aggressions in 
Massachusetts, instructed Colonel Thomas Polk 
to call a convention of the people of their county 
to consider these encroachments. This conven¬ 
tion met at Charlotte, the county seat, upon the 
19th of May. News had been received of the 
Battle of Lexington, which aroused the people to 


such a point that they adopted the following reso- 


266 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


lutions, which were read by Thomas Polk from 
the court-house steps:— 

“That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg county, 
do hereby dissolve the political bands which have 
connected us to the mother country , and hereby 
absolve ourselves from all allegiance to the Brit¬ 
ish crown; and that we do hereby declare our¬ 
selves a free and independent people.” 

James Knox Polk was born in Mecklenburg 
county, North Carolina, on the 2d of November, 
1795. He was the eldest of ten children, six 
sons and four daughters. He was named in 
honor of his maternal grandfather, James Knox, 
a patriot captain of the revolutionary war. 

Samuel Polk, father of the subject of this 
sketch, left his home in North Carolina in 1806, 
and settled in the valley of the Duck river, a trib¬ 
utary of the Cumberland, in Tennessee. In the 
following year, 1807, Maury county was organ¬ 
ized. Mr. Polk was a practical surveyor, and 
found plenty of work in this line. James often 
went wdth him, and soon learned to perform the 
mathematical calculations that his work required. 

President Polk received such early education 
as was afforded by the common schools of his 
day. As his health was not particularly good, 
probably injured by overwork, he was given em¬ 
ployment as clerk in a store. This failed to 
satisfy him. He was at last permitted to quit it 


JAMES K. POLK. 


267 


and pursue his natural inclination to study, which 
he continued for a time under the direction of 
Rev. Doctor Henderson. He afterward attended 
Murfreesborough Academy for two years and a 
half. He was then, (1815), able to enter the 
sophomore class of the North Carolina Univer¬ 
sity, from which he graduated in June, 1818, 
when in the twenty-third year of his age. He 
always remained a great friend of this institution 
and frequently visited it. In 1847, it conferred 
upon him the title of LL. D. 

After leaving school Mr. Polk rested for a few 
months to regain his impaired health. Early in 
1819, he commenced the study of the law in the 
office of Felix Grundy, at Nashville, Tennessee. 
Mr. Grundy was a man of national reputation 
and stood high in his profession. Mr. Polk took 
up this new study with his accustomed zeal and 
made rapid progress. He was admitted to the 
bar in 1820 and immediately commenced prac¬ 
tice, in which he continued for a few years, until 
called away by political duties. While with 
Grundy, he made the acquaintance of Andrew 
Jackson who remembered his ancestors. The 
ancestors of both men had come from Northern 
Ireland at about the same time. Both of them 
were born in Mecklenburg county, North Caro¬ 
lina, and each reared among the scenes of pov¬ 
erty. The friendship formed was strong and life- 


268 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


long and proved to be of great value to Mr. 
Polk. 

In 1823, Mr. Polk was elected to the Tennes¬ 
see Legislature after an animated canvass in 
which he was the leading spirit. Prior to this 
time he had been clerk of the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives. He secured the adoption of a bill 
against dueling. He indorsed the action of the 
Tennessee Legislature in nominating General 
Andrew Jackson for the Presidency, whom he 
assisted to elect United States Senator from Ten¬ 
nessee. Mr. Polk’s career in the Legislature was 
at the time of Monroe’s administration, with which 
he was in full sympathy. 

Upon the first of January, 1824, Mr. Polk was 
married to Miss Sarah Childress, a lady of rare 
attainments and daughter of a Rutherford county, 
Tennessee, merchant. 

In 1825, Mr. Polk entered the National House 
of Representatives, where he remained for four¬ 
teen years. His congressional career began with 
the opening of President John Quincy Adams’s 
administration, of which he was an able oppo¬ 
nent. Adams had been chosen by the House of 
Representatives, although Jackson had received 
more electoral votes. This led men to think of 
changing the constitution relative to the election 
of President. Mr. Polk delivered the first speech 
ever made in Congress favoring the abolition of 


JAMES K. POLK. 


269 

the Electoral College and the election of President 
and Vice-President by the popular vote. Mr. 
Polk was the personal and political friend of 
General Jackson and gave his administration as 
President a hearty and powerful support, sustain¬ 
ing him in his opposition to internal improve¬ 
ments and the National Bank. In 1835, Mr. 
Polk was elected Speaker of the Twenty-fourth 
House of Representatives and two years later 
re-elected to the same position in the Twenty- 
filth Congress. During his congressional career, 
Mr. Polk served upon many important com¬ 
mittees. Plis active mind, his store of profes¬ 
sional and political learning combined with his 
experience as a legislator to make him one of the 
greatest of American statesmen. He was an 
ardent believer in the doctrine of States Rights, 
and was in political sympathy with the institution 
of slavery. Mr. Polk performed his duties as 
Speaker in a manner satisfactory to all parties 
and upon retiring received a unanimous vote of 
thanks from the House of Representatives. The 
following is an extract from a speech that he de¬ 
livered upon this occasion: “When I look back 
to the period when I first took my seat in this 
House, and then look around me for those who 
were at that time my associates here, I find but 
few, very few, remaining. But five members 
who were here with me fourteen years ago con- 


270 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


tinue to be members of this body. My service 
here has been constant and laborious. I can 
perhaps say what few others, if any, can, — that 
I have not failed to attend the sittings of this 
house a single day since I have been a member 
of it, save on a single occasion, when prevented 
for a short time by indisposition. In my inter¬ 
course with the members of this body, when I 
occupied a place on the floor, though occasion¬ 
ally engaged in debates upon interesting public 
questions and of an exciting character, it is a 
source of unmingled gratification to me to recur 
to the fact, that on no occasion was there the 
slightest personal or unpleasant collision with 
any of its members.” 

In August, 1839, Mr. Polk was nominated as 
the Democratic candidate for Governor of Ten¬ 
nessee. After a vigorous canvass in which he 
was the most active participant, he was elected 
by a large majority. He was inaugurated on the 
14th of the following October. In an address 
delivered at this time he advocated the adoption 
of a law prohibiting betting upon elections, and 
gave many reasons in support of his views. He 
also urged upon the State Legislature the neces¬ 
sity and advantage of a judicious system of in¬ 
ternal improvements at state expense, and ap¬ 
pealed to State pride to carry out his propositions. 
He advised the establishment of a board of pub- 


JAMES It. POLK. 


27I 


lie works, to be composed of two or more com- 
. petent persons. The administration of Governor 
Polk was so satisfactory that he was renominated 
by his party as a candidate for re-election, in 1841. 
But the Whigs in the Harrison campaign of 1840 
had carried Tennessee by a large majority. It 
was this whirlpool in politics that caused Mr. 
Polk to be defeated. His successful rival was 
James C. Jones, the Whig candidate, who won 
the victory solely upon political grounds. In 1843 
Mr. Polk was again the Democratic candidate for 
Governor of Tennessee, but was again defeated. 

The proposition to annex Texas to the United 
States was coming before the people, and it was 
constantly gaining in popular favor. It was evi¬ 
dent that it would be the main issue of the Presi¬ 
dential canvass of 1844. Annexation was gen¬ 
erally favored by the South and by the majority 
of Democrats throughout the Union; while it 
was opposed by most of the Whigs. Mr. Polk 
was the friend of annexation and made his views 
known to the public, through letters, prior to the 
Democratic NationalConvention which assembled 
at Baltimore, in June, 1844. The prominent 
names presented to this contention were those of 
Martin Van Buren of New York, Lewis Cass of 
Michigan, Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, 
Levi Woodbury of New Hampshire and James 
Buchanan of Pennsylvania. Mr. Van Buren, 


2^2 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


who was opposed to the annexation of Texas, 
secured a majority of the delegates but failed of 
the requisite two-thirds vote. Upon the eighth 
ballot a few of Mr. Polk’s friends voted for him. 
Upon the ninth ballot he received the vote of 
nearly all the delegates. George M. Dallas was 
associated with him upon the ticket as candidate 
for Vice-President. The Whig candidates were, 
for President, Henry Clay of Kentucky, for Vice- 
President, T. Frelinghuysen of New Jersey. The 
electoral vote was for Polk and Dallas, 170; for 
Clay and Frelinghuysen, 105, giving a Demo¬ 
cratic majority of 65. 

Mr. Polk was inaugurated President upon the 
fourth of March, 1845. President Polk’s first 
official business concerned the annexation of 
Texas. It was to acquaint the American minis¬ 
ter in Texas of the action taken by Congress 
upon the first of March, 1845. This embassador 
laid the intelligence before the Texan govern¬ 
ment. The people of that republic held a con¬ 
vention and adopted a constitution, under which 
they were admitted into the Union as a state in 
December, 1845. During this administration 
two other states were admitted into the Union, 
Iowa in 1846, and Wisconsin in 1848. 

Mexico disputed the possession of that portion 
of Texas lying between the Nueces and Rio 
Grande rivers. This made it necessary for the 


JAMES K* POLK. 


2 73 


United States government to send General Tay¬ 
lor with what is called the “Army of Occupa¬ 
tion” to that quarter, and Commodore Conner of 
the American Navy to the adjacent waters of the 
Gulf of Mexico. Upon the nth of May, 1846, 
Congress declared that war existed with Mexico 
by the act pf that government. The following is 
an extract from President Polk’s second annual 
message to Congress in December, 1846: “The 
war existing between the United States and 
Mexico was neither provoked nor desired by the 
United States: on the contrary, all honorable 
means were resorted to to avoid it. After years 
of aggravated and unredressed wrongs on our 
part, Mexico, in violation of solemn treaty stipu¬ 
lations, and of every principle of justice recog¬ 
nized by civilized nations, commenced hostilities, 
and thus, by her own act, forced war upon us. 
Long before the advance of our army to the left 
bank of the Rio Rande, we had ample cause of 
war against Mexico. The war has been repre¬ 
sented as unjust and unnecessary; as one of ag¬ 
gression, on our part, on a weak and injured 
enemy. Such erroneous views, though enter¬ 
tained by but a few, have been widely and ex¬ 
tensively circulated, not only at home, but have 
been spread throughout Mexico and the whole 
world. 

“The wrongs which we have suffered from 


2^4 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

Mexico almost ever since she became an inde¬ 
pendent power, and the patient endurance with 
which'we have borne them, are without a par¬ 
allel in the history of modern civilized nations. 
Scarcely had Mexico achieved her independence 
when she commenced the system of insult and 
spoliation which she has ever since pursued. Our 
citizens, engaged in lawful commerce, were im¬ 
prisoned, their vessels seized, and our flag in¬ 
sulted in her ports. If money was wanted, the 
lawless seizure and confiscation of our merchant 
vessels and their cargoes was a ready resource; 
and if, to accomplish their purpose, it became 
necessary to imprison the owners, captain, and 
crew, it was done. Rulers superseded rulers in 
Mexico in rapid succession: but still there was 
no change in this system of depredation. The 
government of the United States made repeated 
reclamations on behalf of its citizens; but these 
were answered by the perpetration of new out¬ 
rages.” “Such is the history of the wrongs which 
we have suffered and patiently endured from 
Mexico for a long series of years. The annexa¬ 
tion of Texas constituted no just cause of offense 
to Mexico.” 

“Emigrants from foreign countries were in¬ 
vited by the colonization laws of the state and of 
the Federal government to settle Texas. This 
invitation was accepted by many of our citizens, 


JAMES K. POLK. 


275 


in the full faith, that, in their new home, they 
would be governed by laws enacted by repre¬ 
sentatives elected by themselves; and that their 
lives, liberty and property would be protected by 
constitutional guarantees similar to those which 
existed in the republic they had left. Under a 
government thus organized they continued until 
the year 1835, when a military revolution broke 
out in the City of Mexico, which entirely sub¬ 
verted the federal and state constitutions, and 
placed a military dictator at the head of the gov¬ 
ernment. The people of Texas were unwilling 
to submit to this usurpation. Resistance to such 
tyranny became a high duty. The people of 
Texas flew to arms. They elected members to 
a convention, who in the month of March, 1836, 
issued a formal declaration, that their ‘ political 
connection with the Mexican nation has forever 
ended, and that the people of Texas do now con¬ 
stitute a free, sovereign, and independent re¬ 
public.’ 

“Upon this plain statement of facts it is absurd 
for Mexico to allege that Texas is still a part of 
her territory.” 

The Mexicans in considerable numbers crossed 
the Rio Grande and engaged Taylor in the 
battles of Palo Alto, May 8th, and Rasaca de la 
Palma, May 9th, but were defeated in both con¬ 
tests. Taylor crossed into Mexico and took pos- 


276 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

session of Matamoras, May 18th. He then 
marched against Monterey, which capitulated 
upon the 24th of the following September. On 
the 23rd of February, 1847, Taylor won the 
great battle of Buena Vista over a vastly superior 
force under Santa Anna. Upon the 29th of 
March, General Scott landed with twelve thou¬ 
sand men at Vera Cruz, and after a bombard¬ 
ment of four days took possession of the city. 
He, at once, took up his march to the city of 
Mexico. Santa Anna disputed his progress at 
the mountain pass of Cerro Gordo, where a de¬ 
cided American victory was won upon April 
18th. Pueblo was taken without opposition. At 
this place Scott halted for three months waiting 
for re-inforcements. He resumed the march 
upon the 7th of August. Upon the 20th of the 
same month he carried the positions of Contreras 
and Cherubusco. On the 8th of September, 
General Scott advanced upon the defences of the 
City of Mexico. The last of which, the castle of 
Chapultepec, was stormed on the 13th. Upon 
the following day the American army entered 
the City of Mexico and placed the Stars and 
Stripes in triumph above the halls of the Mon- 
tezumas. 

The fall of the capital closed the war. A treaty 
of peace was concluded at Gaudalupe hi Dalgo, 
a small village near the City of Mexico, Febru- 


JAMES K. POLK. 277 

ary 2nd, 1848. It provided for the vacation of 
Mexico by the American army within three 
months and settled disputed boundaries. By its 
provisions the United States was to pay Mexico 
$15,000,000 for territory taken by conquest, and 
assume debts to the amount of $3,500,000 due 
American citizens from Mexico. 

The Northwest boundary line of the United 
States had for years been the subject of con¬ 
troversy. It was fixed at the forty-ninth parallel 
by a treaty at Washington City, in June, 1846. 

In August, 1846, David Wilmot, in view of the 
addition of territory to be made, introduced a 
bill in Congress prohibiting slavery in any terri¬ 
tory that might be acquired. The bill, though 
defeated, caused great excitement both in and 
out of Congress. 

In February, 1848, gold was discovered in the 
Sacramento Valley, California, which caused a 
vast emigration to that part of the country. 
Within eighteen months 100,000 people had ar¬ 
rived from different parts of the United States. 

Mr. Polk retired from the Presidency March 
4th, 1849. On the 5th of that month he assisted 
in the inauguration of President Taylor. Shortly 
afterward, he left Washington, accompanied by 
his family, for his home in Nashville, Tennessee. 
The route taken was an indirect one, and in¬ 
cluded a visit to the principal cities of the South, 


278 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


in all of which he was received with marked 
respect. While in New Orleans, he was ex¬ 
posed to the cholera, which was raging there at 
that time. Symptoms of the disease were de¬ 
tected while upon the boat from that city to 
Nashville. He had been home but a short time 
when he grew sick with the malady, and after a 
short illness died, upon the 15th of June, 1849, 
when in the fifty-fourth year of his age. He 
possessed a weak constitution, but by strictly 
temperate habits and by taking excellent care of 
himself, he enjoyed good health throughout life. 
President Polk is buried at Nashville, within 
twelve miles of “The Hermitage,” the burial 
place of General Jackson. A monument twelve 
feet square and of about the same height, marks 
his resting place. 



ZACHARY TAYLOR*. 


279 


Chapter XII. 


ZACHARY TAYLOR. 



I achary Taylor, the twelfth President 
*of the United States, and the seventh 
{&& from the “Old Dominion,” Virginia, by 
this time justly called the “Mother of Presidents,” 


born 


Orange 


county, November 24th, 

1784. His ancestors came from England to Vir¬ 
ginia in 1692, and are closely identified with the 
history of that State. His father, Colonel Rich¬ 
ard Taylor, was an associate of Washington and 
fought throughout the Revolutionary struggle, 
engaging in most of its principal battles. In 

1785, the family moved to a plantation near 
Louisville, Kentucky, where General Taylor’s 
childhood and youth were spent. The advan¬ 
tages afforded him for obtaining an education 
were very meagre. He remained at home as a 
laborer upon his father’s farm, until he had at¬ 
tained the ,age of twenty-four years. His child¬ 
hood, was to some extent, surrounded by adven¬ 
tures. Indian depredations were of frequent 
occurrence in that section of the country. Upon 


19 


280 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


the death of his brother, Hancock Taylor, who 
held a commission in the United States Army as 
Lieutenant, Zachary applied to President Jefferson 
to be appointed in his place, which appointment 
he obtained through the assistance of James 
Madison, of whom he was a relative, and who 
was at that time Secretary of State. His com¬ 
mission as First Lieutenant in the Seventh Regi¬ 
ment, was granted May 3, 1808, but from this 
time, until the breaking out of the war with 
Great Britain, in 1812, he remained quiet, doing 
nothing of consequence. 

A few weeks prior to the declaration of war 
he was appointed by President Madison to the 
command of Ft. Harrison, and was at the same 
time made Captain. This fort was a block-house 
situated on the Wabash, about 50 miles north of 
Vincennes, and had been named after General 
Harrison, Governor of the Northwest Territory. 
Captain Taylor was thus thrown to the very 
front of Indian hostilities. Tecumseh determined 
to capture this place. After failing to obtain pos¬ 
session of it by strategy, he led four hundred 
warriors to its assault on September 4, 1812. 
The little garrison of fifty men, two-thirds of 
whom were disabled by sickness, were saved 
from being tomahawked or burned to death by 
their own indefatigable efforts and the skill of 
their young commander. The attack was kept 


ZACHARY TAYLOR. 


28l 


up for seven hours, from 11 p. m. until 6 the 
following morning, when the Indians retired, 
having suffered considerable loss. The skill and 
bravery of this little garrison was greatly com¬ 
mented upon throughout the country, and caused 
Captain Taylor to be brevetted Major by Presi¬ 
dent Madison. This was the first instance of the 
kind in our country. 

In 1814 Taylor led an expedition against the 
British and Indians on Rock river. In 1815 
peace having been restored and the army re¬ 
duced, his command was lowered to that of a 
Captain, whereupon he at once resigned and re¬ 
tired to his plantation near Louisville, Kentucky. 
In 1816 his former commission of Major being 
returned him, he was ordered to Green Bay, 
Wisconsin. In 1819 he went to New Orleans 
in the military service, and in the same year was 
commissioned Lieutenant Colonel. In 1822 
he built Ft. Jessup. In 1832 he was made a 
Colonel, and participated in an expedition against 
Black Hawk and went to Ft. Crawford at Prairie 
Du Chien, Wisconsin. 

In 1837 he was given command of the United 
States forces operating against Osceola, the prin¬ 
cipal of the Seminole chiefs. At the head of 
eleven hundred men he proceeded from Ft. Gard¬ 
ner to the Everglades, overcoming the embar¬ 
rassments of cypress swamps, marshy thickets 


282 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


and a wet, yielding soil. Upon Christmas day, 
1837, they came to a swamp, near Lake Okee¬ 
chobee, where the Indians had assembled in a 
place almost inaccessible; Colonel Taylor halted 
and formed a column, and charged upon the con¬ 
cealed foe, driving them half way across the 
morass. They opened fire upon their pursuers 
with considerable effect, but were unable to 
check the brave assailants. The Indians broke, 
rallied and broke again, and then formed for 
their last and unsuccessful resistance. They 
were driven from their position and the battle of 
Okeechobee was won. Col. Taylor, in his offi¬ 
cial report of the battle, says: “The action was 
a severe one, and continued from half-past twelve 
until after three in the afternoon; a part of the 
time very close and severe. We suffered much. 
The hostiles probably suffered, all things consid¬ 
ered, equally with ourselves; they having left ten 
on the ground, besides, doubtless, carrying off 
many more, as is customary with them when 
practicable. 

“Besides the killed, there lay 112 officers and 
soldiers, wounded, to be cared for and not much 
means for doing so.” 

Colonel Taylor was now brevetted Brigadier 
General and given the principal command of 
Florida. In 1840 he commanded the military 
department of the Southwest, remaining at Forts 


ZACHARY TAYLOR. 


283 


Gibson and Jessup until the Mexican war. 
March 1, 1845, Congress adopted a resolution 
annexing Texas to the Union, and claiming the 
Rio Grande river for the Southwest boundary of 
the United States. The Mexicans claimed the 
river Nueces as the boundary line and pre¬ 
pared to hold it by military force, and perhaps to 
conquer the whole province of Texas. In No¬ 
vember, 1845, General Taylor was ordered with 
4,000 men to Corpus Christi. Upon the 8th of 
March, 1846, he marched to the Rio Grande and 
built Ft. Brown opposite Matamoras. He was 
ordered by General Ampudia to retire beyond 
the Nueces, which he declined to do. Where¬ 
upon, General Ampudia, as Mexican commander, 
crossed the Rio Grande with 6,000 men, against 
whom General Taylor had but 2,300. Taylor 
was upon his return to Ft. Brown from Point 
Isabel, whither he had gone for supplies, when, 
upon the 8th day of May he found his progress 
disputed by the entire Mexican force upon the 
plateau of Palo Alto. The battle that followed 
was a decisive American victory, Taylor hav¬ 
ing but nine men killed. The Mexicans renewed 
the contest the next day, May 9th, at the ravine, 
where they had intrenched themselves, (Resaca 
de la Palma.) They were signally defeated. 
The Mexican loss was 1,000 killed, the Ameri¬ 
can only no. In June Congress voted Taylor 


284 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


the full rank of Major General. In September, 
1846, General Taylor marched to Monterey, 
which after a siege of ten days, and three days 
hard fighting, was surrendered by General Am- 
pudia. The Mexican force in this affair consisted 
of 10,000 men, while Taylor’s force was but 
6,000. For a time General Taylor kept his head¬ 
quarters at Monterey. Upon hearing of Santa 
Anna’s advance, Taylor advances to Agua 
Nueva, twenty-five miles south of Saltillo. The 
greater part of his force had been called to aid 
General Scott upon the Gulf. With his small * 
force General Taylor determined to fortify the 
mountain pass at Buena Vista, eleven miles in the 
rear of Agua Nueva. Thus with the Sierre 
Madre mountains on one side, and a ravine upon 
the other, the American force awaited the Mexi¬ 
can host, 20,000 strong. The bloody battle of 
Buena Vista occurred February 23rd, 1847; it 
lasted from early morn until late at night and re¬ 
sulted in a decided American victory. The Amer¬ 
ican loss was 746, and the Mexican about 2,000. 
Throughout the entire battle Taylor was in the 
thickest of the affray, encouraging his men both 
by words and deeds. When his coat was pierced 
by a canister ball, he calmly remarked, “These 
balls are growing excited.” Deprived of the 
greater portion of his troops previous to this 
action; surrounded by an army four times as large 


ZACHARY TAYLOR. 


285 


as his own, and in the enemy’s own country. “He 
was probably the only man,” says the Baltimore 
American, “who would have fought the battle of 
Buena Vista; the only man, probably, who could 
have won it.” 

An officer in the army describes General Tay¬ 
lor’s appearance and conduct at the battle of 
Buena Vista as follows: “At a time when the for¬ 
tunes of the day seemed extremely problematical, 
when many on our side even despaired of suc¬ 
cess, Old Rough and Ready , as he is not inaptly 
styled (whom you must know, by the by, is short, 
fat, and dumpy in person, with remarkably short 
legs), took his position on a commanding height 
overlooking the two armies. This was about 
three or perhaps four in the afternoon. The 
enemy, who had succeeded in gaining an advan¬ 
tageous position, made a fierce charge upon our 
column, and fought with a desperation that 
seemed, for a time, to insure success to their 
arms. The struggle lasted for some time. All the 
while General Taylor was a silent spectator; his 
countenance exhibiting the most anxious solici¬ 
tude, alternating between hope and despondency. 
His staff, perceiving his perilous situation, for he 
was exposed to the fire of the enemy, approached 
him and implored him to retire. He heeded them 
not. His thoughts were intent upon victory or 
defeat. He knew not at this time what the re- 


286 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


suit would be. He felt that that engagement 
was to decide his fate. He had given all his orders 
and selected his position. If the day went against 
him he was irretrievably lost; if for him, he could 
rejoice, in common with his countrymen, at the 
triumphant success of our arms. 

“Such seemed to be his thoughts, his deter¬ 
mination; and when he saw the enemy give way 
and retreat in the utmost confusion, he gave free 
vent to his pent-up feelings. His right leg was 
quickly disengaged from the pommel of his saddle, 
where it had remained during the whole of the 
fierce encounter; his arms which were calmly 
folded over his breast relaxed their hold; his feet 
fairly danced in the stirrups; and his whole body 
was in motion. It was a moment of the most 
exciting and intense interest, his face was suffused 
with tears. The day was won; the victory com¬ 
plete; his little army saved from defeat and dis¬ 
grace; and he could not refrain from weeping for 
joy, at what had seemed to so many, but a few 
moments before as an impossible result.” 

Perhaps one of the best sketches in existence 
of General Taylor’s character, was given by 
Colonel Humphrey Marshal, at a barbacue made 
in honor of the Kentucky Volunteers. He said: 
“If I tried to express in the fewest words, what 
manner of a mSm General Taylor is, I should say 
that in his manner and appearance, he is one of 


ZACHARY TAYLOR. 


287 

the common people of this country. He might 
be transferred from his tent at Monterey to this 
assembly, and he would not be remarked among 
this crowd of respectable farmers, as a man at all 
distinguished from those around him. Perfectly 
temperate in his habits; perfectly plain in dress; 
entirely unassuming in manners, he appears to 
be an old gentleman in fine health, whose thoughts 
are not turned upon personal appearance, and 
who has no point about him to attract particular 
attention. In his intercourse with men he is free, 
frank and manly. He plays off none of the airs 
of some great men whom I have met, who try to 
preserve their reputation by studied gravity; as 
who should say:— 

“I am Sir Oracle ! When I ope my mouth let 
no dog bark!” He is an honest man. I do not 
mean by that merely that he does not cheat or 
lie. I mean that he is a man who never dissem¬ 
bles and who scorns all disguises. He neither 
acts a part among his friends nor assumes to be 
what he is not. He is a man of rare good judg¬ 
ment. He is a firm man and possesses great 
energy of character. He is a benevolent man. No 
one who had seen him after the battle of Buena 
Vista, as he ordered the wagons to bring in the 
wounded from the field, and heard him as he 
cautioned his own men that the wounded of the 
enemy were to be treated with mercy, could 


288 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


doubt that he was alive to all the kinder impulses 
of our nature.* He was about five feet six inches 
high, very thick set and slightly stoop-shouldered; 
had remarkably short legs in proportion to the 
length of his body, a fine head, high forehead, 
keen, penetrating eye and firm compressed lips; 
his face was almost always lit up by a benevolent 
smile; he was extremely fond of a joke, and 
was ever ready with a witty repartee or a kind 
word for all who addressed him. He had an 
unconquerable dislike for uniform, and was gen¬ 
erally seen in warm weather with a linen round¬ 
about, cotton pantaloons, straw hat, and the cele¬ 
brated brown overcoat, that protected him dur¬ 
ing his Florida campaign, in cold or rainy weath¬ 
er. The most remarkable traits of General Tay¬ 
lor’s character were the wisdom and forethought 
with which he laid his plans, the energy and 
promptness with which he executed them, and 
his firmness, decision and self-possession in the 
hour of trial. No emergency, however sudden, 
no danger, however threatening, and no contin¬ 
gency of whatever nature, was ever able to 
throw him off his guard.” 

After the battle of Buena Vista, General Taylor 
remained at Monterey until November, 1847, 
when, weary of inactivity, he returned to the 
United States. His military career throughout 
the war had made him very popular in all parts 


ZACHARY TAYLOR. 


289 < 

of the Union, and secured him the Presidency in 
the election of 1848. His nomination was made 
by mass meetings throughout the country, which 
were composed of both Whigs and Democrats, 
even before he had returned from Mexico. lie 
was also nominated by the Whig National Con¬ 
vention which met at Philadelphia in June, 1848. 
His opponents in the convention were Daniel 
Webster, Henry Clay and General Scott, but the 
same wave of popularity that secured his nom¬ 
ination, also secured his election. He obtained 
163 electoral votes. Millard Fillmore of New 
York was chosen Vice-President. During the 
campaign General Taylor was admiringly de¬ 
nominated by the soldiers as “Old Rough and 
Ready R The fact that Taylor was a slave¬ 
holder was strongly urged against him during the 
campaign. Daniel Webster pronounced him as 
an ignorant frontier Colonel. So little interest 
had he taken in politics that he had not voted for 
forty years. 

Taylor and Fillmore were inaugurated upon 
the 5th of March, 1849. President Taylor’s . 
cabinet was composed of John M. Clayton, Sec¬ 
retary of State; William M. Meredith, Secretary 
of the Treasury; George W. Crawford, Secre¬ 
tary of War; William B. Preston, Secretary of 
the Navy; Thomas Ewing, Secretary of the In¬ 
terior; Jacob Collamer, Postmaster General; and 
Reverdy Johnson, Attorney General. 


2go 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


The principal event of Taylor’s administration 
was the agitation of the slavery question. This 
vexatious subject came to the front in politics by 
California asking admission into the Union as a 
free state. The debate in Congress was violent, 
and for a time threatened the dissolution of the 
Union. But Henry Clay, the great peace-maker, 
offered the Omnibus Bill, May 18, 1850, which 
after a four months debate was adopted. It 
contained five distinct provisions, viz: (1) That 
California should come in as a free state; (2) 
that the territories of Utah and New Mexico 
should be formed without any provision concern¬ 
ing slavery; (3) that Texas should be paid 
$10,000,000 to give up its claim on New Mexico; 
(4) that the slave trade should be prohibited in the 
District of Columbia; (5) that a fugitive slave 
law should be enacted, providing for the return 
to their owners of slaves escaping into a free 
state. 

President Taylor’s administration was a brief 
one. He died upon the 9th of July, 1850, after 
an illness of five days. He died of a malady re¬ 
sembling cholera. Millard Fillmore, the Vice- 
President, was inaugurated President the next 
day. The grief occasioned by the death of Presi¬ 
dent Taylor was of a national character. His 
last words were: “I have endeavored to do my 
duty; I am ready to die; my only regret is in 
leaving behind me the friends I love.” 


ZACHARY TAYLOR. 


29I 


General Scott, who was thoroughly acquainted 
with General Taylor, gives the following, no 
doubt truthful, description of his character: 
“With a good store of common sense, General 
Taylor’s mind had not been enlarged and re¬ 
freshed by reading, or much converse with the 
world. Rigidity of ideas was the consequence. 
The frontiers and small military posts had been 
his home. Hence he was quite ignorant for his 
rank, and quite bigoted in his ignorance. His 
simplicity was child-like, and with innumerable 
prejudices, amusing and incorrigible, well suited 
to the tender age. Thus, if a man, however re¬ 
spectable, chanced to wear a coat of an unusual 
color, or his hat a little on one side of his head, 
or an officer to have a corner of his handkerchief 
dangling from his outside pocket,—in any such 
case, this critic held the offender to be a cox¬ 
comb (perhaps something worse,) whom he 
would not, to use his oft repeated phrase, ‘touch 
with a pair of tongs.’ Hon. Mr. Marshall pro¬ 
nounced the following eulogy of General Taylor: 
“Great, without pride; cautious, without fear; 
brave, without rashness; stern, without harsh¬ 
ness; modest, without bashfulness; apt, without 
flippancy; sagacious,without cunning; benevolent, 
without ostentation; sincere and honest as the 
sun, the noble old Roman has, at last, laid down 
his earthly harness; his task is done.” 


292 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Chapter XIII. 


MILLARD FILLMORE. 



WUlmoi^ thirteenth President of the 
United States, was of exceedingly hum- 


ble parentage. Nothing in American 
biography is more purely American than the 
story of Millard Fillmore’s life. He arose from 
the most humble of life — a forest farmer, to the 
most exalted of human condition — the Presi¬ 
dency. His father went into the wilderness of 
Cayuga county, New York, in early life, where 
he purchased a place four miles from any neigh¬ 
bor. It was in this county at the village of 
Summer Hill, where Millard was born on the 7th 
of January, 1800. His paternal grandfather, 
Nathaniel Fillmore, was a soldier in the French 
and Indian War. His father, whose name, also 
was Nathaniel, lived at Bennington, Vermont, 
and served as lieutenant in the American force 
under General Stark at the battle of Bennington, 
August 16th, 1777. His mother was the daugh¬ 
ter of Dr. Abiathar Millard of Pittsfield, Massachu¬ 
setts, and it is said she was a woman of fine 


MILLARD FILLMORE. 


2 9 3 


accomplishments, and possessed great natural 
ability. His father finding that the title to his 
farm in Cayuga ccfunty was defective, removed 
to Niles in 1802, where he remained until 1819 
when he located in Erie county. 

The advantages afforded young Fillmore were 
limited, and his education was in accordance with 
the opportunities at that time, in that section of 
the country. Only the common schools, and 
they often of the poorest sort, were acces¬ 
sible by him. He was kept at farm labor until 
fifteen years of age. His reading up to this time, 
had been confined to his primary school books 
and the Bible. The trade of a clothier having 
been selected as his occupation, he began to serve 
an apprenticeship. Fortunately for himself and 
his country, the village in which he worked for 
four years, owned a small library; by the use of 
this constantly, he wrought a complete trans¬ 
formation of himself. His actions were observed 
by Judge Walter Wood who advised him to study 
law and offered to supply him with the necessary 
funds. His advice and temporary assistance 
were both accepted. For two years Fillmore 
worked in a law office and taught winter schools. 
In 1822, he entered an office in Buffalo and was 
admitted to the bar in 182,3. He commenced 
the practice of his profession at Aurora, and re¬ 
mained seven years in that village. Both he and 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


2 94 

his business grew rapidly in popularity, which 
caused him to be elected to the Legislature as a 
representative from Erie county by the Anti- 
Masonic party. He began his legislative duties 
in January, 1829. 

In 1830, Fillmore removed to Buffalo upon in¬ 
vitation to become a member of a law firm of 
that city. He was elected to the Legislature a 
second time, and it was due chiefly to his efforts, 
that imprisonment for debt was abolished in New 
York. The eminent ability he exhibited as a 
State Legislator, caused him to be elected to 
Congress in 1832, by the Whig party. He was 
re-elected in 1836, in 1838, and again in 1840. 
By this time he was acknowledged as one of the 
national leaders of the Whigs. During his last 
term in Congress, 1841-42, he served as chair¬ 
man of the Ways and Means Committee, which 
is always a place of great responsibility, but was 
particularly so at that time, owing to the financial 
troubles in which the country was involved and 
with which it had to deal. He managed the 
affairs of this committee with great ability; the 
Whig Tariff of 1842 was framed by him. He 
was an ardent protectionist, but in the task of 
adjusting this system to the demands of all sections 
of the Union he experienced great difficulty. 
After a long and arduous effort he met with em¬ 
inent success. 


MILLARD FILLMORE. 


2 95 


In 1844, Mr. Fillmore was nominated as the 
Whig candidate for Governor of New York, but 
was defeated by the popular candidate of the 
Democratic party, Silas Wright. Fillmore’s 
party did not lose confidence in him because of 
this defeat, but in 1847, elected him as Comptrol¬ 
ler of New York by a large majority. The 
National Whig Convention of 1848, nominated 
him for Vice-President along with the old soldier, 
Zachary Taylor, who had fought half a life-time 
on the Frontier, with the Indians, and had lately 
gained new laurels in Mexican battles. Taylor’^ 
military achievements, Fillmore’s statesmanship, 
and a break in the lines of the old Democratic 
party, led the Whigs on to victory. The elect¬ 
oral vote was for Taylor and Fillmore, 163; for 
Cass and Butler, 127. Mr. Fillmore was inau¬ 
gurated Vice-President on Monday, March 5th, 
1849. 

The chief duty of the high station to which he 
had been chosen is to preside over the United 
States Senate. John C. Calhoun, while president 
of the Senate had ruled to allow Senators perfect 
freedom of debate, and contended that he had no 
right to call a Senator to order. Mr. Fillmore 
at once ruled adversely to this decision, and ad¬ 
dressed the Senate upon dignity and decorum in 
debate. He said that he should, in all debates, 
hold each Senator to the bounds of order, of 


20 


296 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

which he should be the judge, and such decisions 
would only be subject to an appeal to the Senate. 
The views were generally endorsed by the coun¬ 
try and the Senate itself, which voted unanimously 
to enter his remarks on the Journal. 

By the death of President Taylor, July 9th, 
1850, the duties of that yet higher station de¬ 
volved upon Mr. Fillmore. Upon the following 
day he took the oath prescribed by the constitu¬ 
tion, and thus became President of the United 
States. The cabinet he selected with Daniel 
Webster as Secretary of State, was one distin¬ 
guished for its ability. The political opinions of 
its members were in complete harmony with 
each other as well as with those of Mr. Fillmore. 
Mr. Webster, will always be looked upon, 
by the American people, as one of the intellectual 
giants of our country. Ere the close of this ad¬ 
ministration, Daniel Webster died, October 24th, 
1852, and was succeeded as Secretary of State 
by Edward Everett, who was also possessed of 
a great mind. 

At the time of Mr. Fillmore’s accession to the 
Presidency, the country was in one of the great 
turmoils that grew out of the slavery question of 
those times. The annexation of Texas and the 
war with Mexico had added to the country, a 
vast domain, which, from its latitude was suitable 
soil on which slavery might live and thrive. The 


MILLARD FILLMORE. 297 

introduction of this institution into this newly 
acquired territory was attempted by the Southern 
people. These movements awakened a bitter 
opposition in the North, which was led on by 
abolitionists and thousands of men who had no 
desire to interfere with slavery in its already es¬ 
tablished boundaries, but, simply opposed its 
further extension. It seemed as though the Union 
would be torn asunder, when Henry Clay,- for a 
third time, proposed a compromising measure. 
These propositions are known collectively as the 
Omnibus Bill, and were adopted separately, after 
they had been defeated when combined in one 
bill. They provided for the admission into the 
Union, of California under a free constitution. 
This proposition was the direct cause of the 
agitation of slavery questions at this time; for the 
abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia; 
for the organization of Utah and New Mexico 
territories without regard to slavery; for the pay¬ 
ment to Texas of the sum of $ 10,000,000 to secure 
the release of her claim upon New Mexico; and, 
for the enforcement of a fugitive slave law. This 
last proposition which made every man an abettor 
of slavery, was openly opposed in Boston, Syra¬ 
cuse, and Christiania, Pennsylvania. Mr. Fill¬ 
more did his full duty as chief executive to secure 
its enforcement, which was simply an impossibil¬ 
ity. This policy was in keeping with the com- 


298 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


promise spirit of the Whig party that finally killed 
it as a political organization. 

A second attempt was made to annex the island 
of Cuba, by some Southern fanatics. The ex¬ 
pedition under command of Lopez escaped from 
the port of New Orleans, on board the steamer 
Pampero. Failing to obtain assistance in the 
way of Cuban uprising against the Spanish au¬ 
thorities, Lopez and his party was overthrown. 
The President had issued a proclamation, putting 
the Cubans on the lookout for this expedition be¬ 
fore it left the United States. 

Upon the 4th of July, 1851, President Fillmore 
laid the corner-stone of the extension of the 
Capitol. Daniel Webster addressed the vast 
assemblage of people that had gathered there to 
witness the ceremonies. 

An important event of this administration was 
the sending of an expedition, in 1853, under com¬ 
mand of Commodore Perry (a brother of the hero 
of Lake Erie), to Japan. A treaty was negotiated 
with that power that proved to be of great value 
to the commerce of both countries. The result 
of the intercourse that followed, upon Japan, is 
one of the most beneficent effects of our institu¬ 
tions abroad. During this administration, treaties 
were made with Brazil, Peru and Costa Rica. 
Exploring expeditions were sent to examine the 
Amazon and La Platte rivers; the object of which 


MILLARD FILLMORE. 299 

was to further the interests ©f scientific and geo¬ 
graphical knowledge. 

Upon the 4th of March, 1853, Mr. Fillmore re¬ 
tired from the Presidency. His administration 
had been a successful one. He was a candidate 
for the Whig nomination in 1852, but, his signing 
of the Fugitive Slave Law had made him un¬ 
popular in the North, and it Was impossible for 
him to secure more than twenty votes from the 
free states. 

After quitting the Presidency he travelled 
throughout the South and in a speech at Vicks¬ 
burg, said: “Canada is knocking for admission 
and Mexico would be glad to come in; and with¬ 
out saying whether it would be right or wrong, 
we stand with open arms ready to receive them; 
for it is the manifest destiny of this government 
to embrace the whole North American Conti¬ 
nent. ?? In 1855, he visited New England and 
afterwards went to Europe. While at Rome in 
1856, he received information of his nomination 
by the American party as a candidate for Presi¬ 
dent along with A. J. Donaldson of Tennessee, 
for Vice-President. Mr. Fillmore accepted but 
it was soon apparent that the real struggle would 
be between Buchanan and Fremont. Fillmore 
and Donaldson received the electoral vote of but 
one State—Maryland. 

Mr. Fillmore spent the remainder of his days 


3 °° 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


in peace at his palatial home in Buffalo, New 
York. During the great Civil War, he was so 
silent as to cast suspicion upon his loyalty to the 
nation of which he had been President. He was, 
however, a nominal sympathizer of the Union 
cause. 

He died upon the 8th of March, 1874, at the 
age of seventy-four years and two months, and 
is buried with his two wives and daughter in 
Forest Lawn Cemeter}^, which is situated some 
three miles north of Buffalo. 






MILLARD FILLMORE. 


3 °! 


Chapter XIV. 



FRANKLIN PIERCE. 


Benjamin Pierce, the father of Franklin 
p Pierce, fourteenth President of the United 
ijv States, was born at Chelmsford, Massa¬ 
chusetts, on Christmas day, 1757. The ancestors 
of the Pierce family had settled at Plymouth 
three years after the landing of the Pilgrims. 
General Benjamin Pierce was a soldier through¬ 
out the Revolutionary War and after its close, a 
prominent citizen of New Hampshire. He was 
an ardent political disciple of Thomas Jefferson 
and served in public life for more than fifty-five 
years. He served his town, as Representative in 
the State Legislature for several years; as General 
of the State militia, and as a member of the Gov¬ 
ernor’s Council. In 1827, he was elected Gov¬ 
ernor of New Hampshire, and re-elected in 
1829. His last public service was performed in 
1832, when he acted as one of New Hampshire’s 
Presidential electors, giving his vote for General 
Jackson. This great man died on the first of 
April, 1839, when in the eighty-second year of 
his age. 


302 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


General Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth Presi¬ 
dent of the United States, was the sixth of the 
eight children of this illustrious parent. He was 
born at Hillsborough, New Hampshire, on the 
23rd of November, 1804. The name, Francis, 
was originally given him and appears upon his 
monument, but throughout all his public life he 
was known as Franklin Pierce. Plis father keenly 
felt the personal need of an education, and as his 
son Franklin had shown an inclination to study, 
he determined to give him the advantages of a 
college course. The education of President 
Pierce was commenced in the district schools of 
his neighborhood and continued at Hancock and 
Francestown Academies. In 1820, when but 
sixteen years of age, he entered Bowdoin Col¬ 
lege, located at Brunswick, Maine. His course 
at college was brilliant, graduating at the age of 
twenty. Among his school-mates were, Calvin 
E. Stowe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, John P. Hale, 
and John S. C. Abbott. 

After leaving college in 1824, young Pierce 
studied at a law school at New Hampden, Mas¬ 
sachusetts. He was admitted to the bar in 1827, 
and commenced the practice of his profession in 
his native town of Hillsborough. Though at first 
not very successful, by perseverance he won con¬ 
siderable practice. The natural bent of his mind, 
like that of his father’s, was towards politics. 


FRANKLIN PIFRCF. 


3°3 

Politics to him was partisanship. The old Fed¬ 
eralist party was a shattered host. The party of 
the three great Presidents, Jefferson, Madison 
and Monroe was dominant in New Hampshire, 
and Mr. Pierce was early lured into its service. 
At the age of twenty-five he was elected to his 
State Legislature as the representative of his 
town, and was re-elected for four successive 
years. The last two years of which he was chosen 
speaker by a large majority. 

On the 4th of March, 1833, Mr. Pierce became 
a member of the National House of Representa¬ 
tives, to which he had been elected but a short 
time previous. He was its youngest member, 
being but a little more than twenty-eight years 
of age. To this position he was re-elected two 
years later. These four years spent in the Na¬ 
tional Legislature were during Jackson’s admin¬ 
istration, to which he gave his full support. He 
opposed all forms of internal improvements at 
national expense. In 1837, the New Hampshire 
Legislature elected him a United States Senator 
from that State. He became a member of that 
body upon the 4th of March, 1837, the date of 
Van Buren’s inauguration as President, whose 
administration was a continuance of Jackson’s 
policy. Senator Pierce was the youngest mem¬ 
ber of this assembly and was the colleague of 
such men as Thomas H. Benton, John C. Cal- 


304 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

houn and James Buchanan. His speeches were 
always listened to with profound attention. He 
remained in this position five years, resigning in 
1842. 

In 1838 Senator Pierce removed to Concord, 
the capital of his state, where, in 1842, he en¬ 
tered into an extensive professional practice. 
During Van Buren’s administration, his old law 
preceptor was Secretary of the Treasury. In 
1836, Mr. Polk, then President, offered him a 
place in his cabinet, which he declined to accept, 
although he was in full sympathy with the gen¬ 
eral policy of Polk’s administration and the an¬ 
nexation of Texas. At about the same time Mr. 
Pierce was offered the Democratic nomination 
for Governor of New Hampshire, which was, at 
that time, equivalent to an election, but which he 
also declined. 

On the 27th of May, 1847, Mr. Pierce em¬ 
barked with 2,400 men at Providence, R. I., to 
reinforce General Scott, then upon his way to the 
Mexican capital. He had volunteered and been 
made Colonel of his regiment, but was soon pro¬ 
moted to the rank of Brigadier General. In about 
one month from the time they started, his troops 
landed upon a sandy beach at Virgari, Mexico. 
After capturing and taming sufficient mules from 
the prairies, they took up their march to join 
General Scott, who was lying in wait for them at 


FRANKLIN FIERCE. 


305 

Pueblo. The march was an extremely difficult 
one to accomplish. Because of the excessive heat 
at midday the troops moved only at morning and 
evening. Drenching rains were of frequent oc¬ 
currence. The country was rough and unknown 
to General Pierce and his troops. Four hundred 
of his men were sick and required great care. 
Bands of guerrillas and Mexicans were constantly 
hovering about the camp, picking off men, de¬ 
stroying bridges and impeding their progress in 
every way possible. In spite of all these obsta¬ 
cles the march was accomplished without the 
loss of a single wagon, and General Scott’s camp 
at Pueblo was reached early in August. The 
forward movement upon the capital was soon 
commenced. General Pierce’s brave men at¬ 
tacked twice their number at Contreras and won 
a complete victory, when their gallant 
leader could scarcely stay in his saddle, having 
been injured the night before by a fall off his 
horse. General Pierce remained in active duty 
in spite of his injuries and the expressed wishes 
of General Scott that he should rest. Upon the 
same day he led his force into what terminated 
in the brilliant victory of Cherubusco. But was, 
from sheer exhaustion, rendered incapable of tak¬ 
ing part in the battle. In an unconscious state 
he lay upon the ground during this short but de¬ 
cisive conflict. General Pierce displayed the 


30 6 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

true heroism of a brave soldier. He took part 
in the battle of Molino del Rey, after which he 
was attacked by a serious fit of sickness lasting 
thirty-six hours, by which he was prevented from 
taking part, though much he desired to, in the 
storming of the castle of Chapultepec, September 
13, and in the triumphant entry into the City ol 
Mexico on the following day. Mr. Pierce re¬ 
mained in the Mexican capital until the following 
December, when he returned to his New Eng¬ 
land home amid the congratulations of his coun¬ 
trymen. 

General Pierce re-entered professional business 
at Concord. In 1850-51 he served as the Presi¬ 
dent of a convention that framed a new consti¬ 
tution for New Hampshire. 

The Democratic National Convention of 1852 
assembled at Baltimore on the 12th of June and 
remained in session for four days. Thirty-five 
ballots had been taken without any of the can¬ 
didates receiving the requisite two-thirds vote of 
the convention. Upon the thirty-sixth ballot the 
Virginia delegation brought forth the name of 
General Pierce, who upon the forty-ninth ballot 
received 282 votes^out of the 293. General Scott 
was the Whig candidate. The canvass was full 
of spirit. Mr. Pierce was a pronounced friend 
of the Fugitive Slave Law and of its enforcement. 
And in general favored the pro-slavery doctrines 


FRANKLIN PIERCE. 307 

of the South. He was elected President by an 
overwhelming majority, receiving more than six- 
sevenths of the electoral votes. The vote being, 
for Pierce, 254; for Scott, 42. William R. King 
of Alabama, the Democratic candidate for Vice- 
President, received the same number of electoral 
votes as Mr. Pierce. General Scott received the 
votes of but four states, viz., Vermont, Massa¬ 
chusetts, Kentucky and Tennessee. 

Mr. Pierce was inaugurated President of the 
United States on the 4th of March, 1853. Stand¬ 
ing upon a platform over the east steps of the 
capitol made of New Hampshire pines for the 
occasion, Mr. Pierce took the oath of office, ad¬ 
ministered by Chief Justice Taney. 

Scarcely had President Pierce entered upon 
his official duties than a difficulty arose concern¬ 
ing the Mexican boundary. A treaty was nego¬ 
tiated by which our government was released 
from the stipulations of the treaty of Gaudalupe 
Hidalgo, for such release and for the acquired 
territory the United States was to pay to Mexico 
the sum of ten million dollars. Seven millions 
of which were to be paid when the treaty was 
made and the remaining three millions, upon the 
establishment of the boundary line. This is known 
as the “Gadsden Purchase” of 1854. 

During the earlier part of Pierce’s administra¬ 
tion numerous explorations were being made for 


3°8 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


the purpose of extending the commerce, both 
foreign and domestic, of the United States. Cap¬ 
tain Ringgold was sent on an expedition the ob¬ 
ject of which was Uo explore those parts of the 
Pacific Ocean which would be traversed in carry¬ 
ing on the commercial trade between the ports 
on the Western shore of the United States and 
those of the Eastern coast of Asia. While this 
expedition was gone, Congress ordered surveys 
of the land to be made, preparatory to construct¬ 
ing one or more railroads connecting the ports of 
the Atlantic coast to those of the Pacific. Over 
one of the routes then explored a railroad was 
completed in May of 1869. 

While this quiet and prosperous state of affairs 
was in progress, Mr. Douglas of Illinois, intro¬ 
duced into Congress a bill which created intense 
feeling both in and out of that body. This is 
known as the “Kansas-Nebraska Bill” and was 
virtually the repeal of the “Missouri Compromise” 
of 1820. It proposed to erect the vast territory 
extending from Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota 
on the east to the Pacific territories on the west, 
and from the thirty-seventh parallel to the British 
possessions on the north, into two divisions; that 
south of the fortieth parallel to take the name of 
Kansas, and that north, the name of Nebraska, 
and provided that the people of these territories 
should have the right to choose for themselves 


FRANKLIN PIERCE. 


3°9 

whether they should be admitted as a free 
or slave state. Violent debates ensued in both 
Houses of Congress and among the people. 
Conventions were held and petitions sent to Con¬ 
gress against the measure. Notwithstanding the 
exertions made to defeat it, the bill passed the 
Senate on the 3rd of March, with a vote of thir¬ 
ty-seven for, and fourteen against it. After an 
extended discussion it passed the House of 
Representatives on the 22nd by a vote of one 
hundred and thirteen to one hundred, and be¬ 
came a law in May, 1854. 

About this time a difficulty arose between the 
United States and Spain. The President ordered 
three of the ministers plenipotentiary in Europe 
to meet and discuss the best means of settling 
the difficulty and gaining the possession of Cuba. 
They accordingly met at Ostend, a small town 
in Holland, and agreed upon what is known as 
the “Ostend Circular.” It advocated that if 
Cuba could not be purchased honorably from 
Spain the United States would be justified in tak¬ 
ing it by force of arms. Such doctrine was in¬ 
dignantly spurned by all honorable people in both 
hemispheres. 

The relations between the United States and 
Great Britain were slightly irritated in 1855. 
This trouble was attributed to the workings of 
the British Minister at Washington, who in viola- 


3 IQ 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


tion of our neutrality laws, had enlisted troops in 
the United States for the British army, then com¬ 
bined with the French, in a war with Russia. 
President Pierce immediately demanded his 
recall. His request not being complied with, he 
dismissed the offending embassador, and also the 
British Consuls at New York, Philadelphia and 
Cincinnati. Finally a new minister was sent and 
peace was restored. 

After the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 
the question — Should the States be free or slave? 
— remained open for decision. Emigrants from 
the free-labor States came pouring in and it was 
evident that they would more than overbalance 
the vote of their pro-slavery opponents. Clubs 
of armed men from Missouri entered Kansas, 
took possession of the polls and controlled Kan¬ 
sas elections. Thus during the remainder of 
President Pierce’s administration Kansas was a 
scene of violence and bloodshed. 

Mr. Pierce retired from the Presidency March 
4th, 1857. Previous to the year i860, he made 
an extended tour through European countries; 
after his return he resided at Concord the re¬ 
mainder of his days. 

Mr. Pierce was married in November, 1834, 
to Miss Jane Means Appleton, daughter of the 
President ofBowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine. 
Three sons were born of this Union but all died 


FRANKLIN PIERCE. 


3 1 1 

before either of their parents. Mrs. Pierce died 
in 1863. The Ex-President passed away Octo¬ 
ber 8th ? 1869, while in his sixty-fifth year. Noth¬ 
ing remains of the Pierce family but their history. 
An elaborate Italian marble monument marks 
their resting place at Concord. Mr. Pierce sleeps 
the long sleep that knows no waking among 
many of New Hampshire’s most honored citizens 
with whom he associated and labored in behalf 
of the laws and institutions of our land. 



21 


3 12 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Chapter XV. 


JAMES BUCHANAN 



tony Batter, a wild, mountainous lo- 
J^g^cality in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, 
is the place where, on the 23d of April, 
1791, James Buchanan, the fifteenth of American 
Presidents, was born. 

In Mr. Buchanan’s biography we learn of an¬ 
other eminent American who arose from ob¬ 
scurity to the first place of the nation. His 
father was an intellectual but poor Irishman, who 
emigrated from Northern Ireland in 1783, just 
at the close of the Revolutionary War. This man, 
in 1788, married Elizabeth Spear, the daughter 
of a good farmer. They removed to a farm in 
Franklin county, Pennsylvania, which was then a 
wilderness. Here James was born in 1791. At the 
age of eight, his father having removed to Mer- 
cersburg, his education was commenced. His 
progress was so rapid that at the age of fourteen he 
was able to enter Dickinson College, at Carlyle, 
from which he graduated with the first honors 
of his class in 1809. 


JAMES BUCHANAN. 313 

After graduating, Mr. Buchanan studied law at 
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was admitted to the 
bar at the age of twenty-one. He at once entered 
upon considerable practice. In 1814, when but 
twenty-three years old, he was elected by the 
Federalists to a seat in the Pennsylvania Legis¬ 
lature. When the war with Great Britain broke 
out in 1812, he gave his support to President 
Madison’s administration. In 1814 he volun¬ 
teered as a private soldier, after Washington had 
bedn sacked, for the defense of Baltimore. The 
British, however, gave up the attempt before his 
arrival at the latter place, and his martial spirit 
failed of development. 

Mr. Buchanan was in early life a Federalist, 
but the opposition of that party to the war policy 
of President Madison’s administration, and the 
successful administrations of Jefferson, ^Madison 
and Monroe, ail of whom belonged to the Anti- 
Federalist party, gradually drew him into the 
Democratic ranks. Buchanan afterwards said: 
“The older I grow the more I am inclined to be 
what is called a states-rights man.” 

In 1820 Mr. Buchanan reluctantly consented 
to be a candidate to represent his district in 
Congress. He was elected and continued in this 
position for ten years, March 4th, 1821, to March 
4 th, 1831. 

In the Presidential canvass of 1824, when Jack- 


314 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

son, Adams, Clay and Crawford were aspirants 
for the chief magistracy, he gave an enthusiastic 
support to the hero of New Orleans. During 
his congressional career he came by degrees to 
be identified with the Democratic party. He 
opposed a national bank and all forms of internal 
improvements at national expense. He believed 
that the constitution of the United States author¬ 
ized the laying of a tariff for the purposes of 
revenue only, and that the idea of protection was 
not included. He acted as chairman of>the 
judiciary committee of the Twenty-first Con¬ 
gress. In 1831, Mr. Buchanan was appointed 
American minister to Russia to negotiate a com¬ 
mercial treaty with that power. He remained 
abroad for two years, and gave complete satis¬ 
faction. His work in this capacity proved 
itself to be of great value to both nations. In 1833, 
Mr. Buchanan was elected by the Pennsylvania 
Legislature a United States Senator from that 
State. In this position he remained for twelve 
years. Senator Buchanan was an ardent sup¬ 
porter of President Jackson’s administration, as 
well as that of his successor, Mr. Van Buren. 
He gave the support of both his voice and vote 
to the resolution expunging the resolution cen¬ 
suring President Jackson for the removal of the 
national deposits to State banks. While in the 
Senate, Mr. Buchanan was regarded as the leader 
of his party in Congress. 


JAMES BUCHANAN. 315 

Upon the accession of James K. Polk to the 
Presidency, in March, 1845, h e selected Mr. 
Buchanan as his Secretary of State. He did 
much to frame the policy of our government in 
the war with Mexico, and regarded its achieve¬ 
ments as a great national glory. Concerning the 
annexation of Texas he once said: “To the 
Middle and Western, more especially to the New 
England States, it would be a source of unmixed 
prosperity. It would extend their commerce, 
promote their manufactures, and increase their 
wealth.” As Secretary of State he brought to a 
peaceful termination the dispute with Great 
Britain concerning the Northwest boundary 
question, and thus averted a foreign war. Mr. 
Buchanan once said: “If I know myself, I am not 
a.politician neither of the East nor of the West, of 
the North nor of the South. I, therefore, shall 
avoid any expressions, the direct tendency of 
which shall be to create sectional jealousies, and 
at length disunion — that worst and last of all 
political calamities.” 

At the. close of President Polk’s administra¬ 
tion in March, 1849, Mr. Buchanan retired to 
private life, having filled the various stations 
to which he had been called to the perfect satis¬ 
faction of his party. But through letters and 
public speeches he continued to exert a powerful 
influence upon the politics of the country. lie 


3 l6 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


acceded to the compromise measures of 1850, 
and favored the enforcement of the fugitive 
slave law. During the administration of Presi¬ 
dent Pierce he was American minister to Eng¬ 
land. The chief questions that he had to con¬ 
sider were concerning Spain and the Central 
American Republics. The question of the an¬ 
nexation of Cuba to the United States was being 
agitated. It was feared by the friends of slavery 
that Spain might abolish their barbarous institu¬ 
tions in that island, or that the slaves might rebel 
and establish their freedom, as they had done in 
San Domingo, and this might have an effect upon 
the perpetuity of their institution in this country. 
Mr. Buchanan met Mason and Soule, the Ameri¬ 
can ministers to France and Spain, at Ostend, 
who, after considering the subject, issued the 
celebrated “Ostend Manifesto,” which excited 
considerable comment both in Europe and Amer¬ 
ica, and the substance of which is as follows:— 
“After we shall have offered Spain a price for 
Cuba far beyond its present value, and this shall 
have been refused, it will then be time to con¬ 
sider the question, ‘Does Cuba, in the possession 
of Spain,, seriously endanger our internal peace 
and the existence of our cherished Union?’ Should 
this question be answered in the affirmative, then 
by every law, human and divine, we shall be 
justified in wresting it from Spain, if we possess 
the power.” 


JAMES BUCHANAN. 317 

The Democratic National Convention of 1856 
nominated Mr. Buchanan for the Presidency. 
With him was associated John C. Breckenridge 
of Kentucky as candidate for Vice-President. 
The candidates of the newly formed Republican 
party were John C. Fremont of California for 
President and William L. Dayton of New Jersey 
for Vice-President. The electoral vote was, for 
Buchanan and Breckenridge, 174 from nine¬ 
teen states; for Fremont and Dayton, 114 from 
eleven states; for Fillmore and Donaldson, 8 from 
Maryland. The popular vote was quite different, 
Fremont receiving a majority over Buchanan of 
about 110,000. 

Mr. Buchanan was inaugurated President at 
Washington City on the 4th of March, 1857. 
The oath of office was administered by Chief 
Justice Taney. Among those present at the 
inauguration was one, George Washington Parke 
Custis, the grandson of Mrs. Washington and the 
adopted son of the immortal George Washington. 
He had been present at the inauguration of every 
President from Washington to Buchanan. He 
died in the autumn of 1857. 

At the beginning of Buchanan’s administration 
occurred the Dred Scott Decision which caused 
intense sectional strife concerning slavery. Dred 
Scott and wife were the slaves of a surgeon in 
the United States Army, who carried them into 


318 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

free territory, he having been stationed at a mili¬ 
tary post there. After permitting them to live 
there for several years, he removed to Missouri, 
when Scott sued for freedom. The State Circuit 
Court of St. Louis county decided in his favor, 
but the Supreme Court of Missouri reversed the 
decision. Then Scott appealed to the Supreme 
Court of the United States. That court, Chief 
Justice Taney presiding, decided in 1857, that 
slave-holders might take their slaves into free 
territory without forfeiting claim of them. This 
decision caused great excitement throughout the 
North. It was considered that the last obstacle 
in the way of making slavery a national institu¬ 
tion had been removed. The Fugitive Slave Law 
became more obnoxious to them than ever. The 
Legislatures of Ohio and New York passed bills 
declaring that they would free any slave involun¬ 
tarily brought within their borders. Maine, 
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan and Wis¬ 
consin favored the freedom of the slaves but 
offered no open resistance to the Fugitive Slave 
Law. 

The public attention was now changed from 
the question of slavery to the movements of the 
Mormons of Utah. They wanted their territory 
admitted into the Union which was refused them 
on account of their polygamy. They de¬ 
stroyed the records of the United States Court for 


JAMES BUCHANAN. 


U9 


their district, and looked to Bringham Young, 
their leader, for their laws. President Buchanan 
appointed Colonel Gumming governor of the 
territory and sent an army to subdue the rebel¬ 
lion. Cumming arrived there in 1858, the trouble 
finally subsided, and the Mormons were soon, 
again, seeking admittance into the Union. 

The intense excitement on the subject of slav¬ 
ery, which had been somewhat quelled during 
the trouble with the Mormons, now revived with 
unmitigated fury, when John Brown of Kansas, 
who had suffered much from the struggles be¬ 
tween the free-labor and the pro-slavery people 
of that State, thought it his special duty to free 
the slaves and accordingly organized a band of 
twenty followers and attacked the United States 
Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. He ex¬ 
pected assistance from the slaves of that vicinity 
which he failed to receive and the insurrection 
was subdued by the United States militia. Two 
of Brown’s sons were killed in the skirmish and 
he was indicted on a charge of treason and mur¬ 
der, tried, convicted and executed on the 2nd of 
December, 1859. 

The time for another Presidential election was 
drawing near. The Democratic party divided, 
one faction, favoring “squatter sovereignty ,” 
nominated Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, for 
President; the other, favoring slavery as a nation- 


3 20 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


al institution, nominated John C. Breckenridge. 
The Republican party nominated Abraham Lin¬ 
coln of Illinois. The pro-slavery people declared 
that if Lincoln was elected President they would 
secede from the Union. Lincoln, however, was 
elected in November of i860, and in the follow¬ 
ing December, South Carolina seceded. Shortly 
afterward Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, 
Louisiana and Texas followed her example. 

In February, 1861, the delegates from each of 
these States assembled at Montgomery, Ala¬ 
bama, and formed a government which they 
called the “Confederate States of America.” 
They elected Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, 
their President and Alexander H. Stephens of 
Georgia, Vice-President. 

During these exciting scenes President Bu¬ 
chanan made no effort to quell the rapidly 
developing rebellion, and was keenly censured 
for his proceedings. 

Three states were admitted into the Union 
during this administration: Minnesota May nth, 
1858, Oregon February 14th, 1859, an d Kansas 
January 29th, 1861. 

Mr. Buchanan’s term of office expired March 
4th, 1861. His administration was a calamitous 
one to the nation. Many rulers have exercised 
their authority too extensively. Many have erred 
by an ardent support of wrong principles; but the 


JAMES BUCHANAN. 


3 21 


chief blame accredited to Mr. Buchanan’s ad¬ 
ministration was due to his refusal to do any¬ 
thing, at a time of great peril and when decisive 
action might have accomplished a wonderful 
amount of good. At the close of President Bu¬ 
chanan’s official term, a great struggle was im¬ 
minent. The seeds of this rebellion were sown 
before the men that waged it were born. Heavy 
clouds were hovering over the Union threaten¬ 
ing dissolution. Daily and hourly they grew 
darker and thicker. Many loyal hearts were 
anxious to see the Union preserved but appre¬ 
hended disaster. Mr. Buchanan vacated the 
great chair of state and yielded the reigns of 
government to his illustrious successor, Abraham 
Lincoln. After witnessing the inauguration he 
retired to his home at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 
and spent the remainder of his days in quiet life. 
His residence is situated one mile west of Lan¬ 
caster. An old-fashioned brick mansion, sur¬ 
rounded by shade and ornamental trees, was his 
home from the time he began to study law until 
his death. He called his place Wheatland. It 
is now owned and occupied in summer by his 
niece, Mrs. H. E. Johnston. 

Mr. Buchanan died June ist, 1868, at the age of 
seventy-seven years. His remains lie in a large 
and tastefully arranged cemetery, Wood Hill, of 
nearly thirty acres in the Southeastern part of the 


322 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

city of Lancaster. This place furnishes a fine 
outlook over the valley of the Conestoga. Mr. 
Buchanan was a man of noble features and many 
excellent qualifications which gave a manly bear¬ 
ing to many important stations that he was 
chosen to fill, but unfortunately he lost his man¬ 
hood or his patriotism became wrecked at a most 
critical period in the affairs of this nation. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


3 2 3 


Chapter XVI. 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



incoln, in point of greatness and excel¬ 
lency of character, ranks next to Wash¬ 
ington among American Presidents. 

The following sketch is an autobiography of 
Mr. Lincoln: 

“I was born February 12th, 1809, in Hardin 
county, Kentucky. My parents were both born 
in Virginia, of undistinguished families — second 
families, perhaps, I should say. My mother, who 
died in my tenth year, was of a family by name 
of Flanks, some of whom now reside in Adams 
county, and others in Mason county, Illinois. My 
paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emi¬ 
grated from Rockingham county, Virginia, to 
Kentucky, about 1781 or 1782, where, a year or 
two later, he was killed by the Indians, not in 
battle, but by stealth, when he was laboring to 
open a farm in the forest. His ancestors, who 
were Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks 
county, Pennsylvania. An effort to identify them 
with the New England family of the same name 



324 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

ended in nothing more definite than a similarity 
of Christian names in both families, such as 
Enoch, Levi, Mordecai, Solomon, Abraham and 
the like. My father, at the death of his father, 
was but six years of age, and grew up, literally 
without any education. He removed from Ken¬ 
tucky to what is now Spencer county,. Indiana, 
in my eighth year. We reached our new home 
about the time the State came into the Union. 
It was a wild region, with many bears and other 
wild animals still in the woods. There I grew 
up. There were some schools, so-called, but no 
qualification was ever required of a teacher, be¬ 
yond “readin,’ writin,’ and cipherin’ ” to the rule 
of three. If a straggler, supposed to understand 
Latin, happened to sojourn in the neighborhood, 
he was looked upon as a wizard. There was 
absolutely nothing to excite ambition for educa¬ 
tion. Of course, when I came of age, I did not 
know much. Still, somehow, I could read, 
write, and cipher to the rule of three, but that 
was all. I have not been to school since. The 
little advance I have now upon this store of edu¬ 
cation, I have picked up from time to time under 
the pressure of necessity. I was raised to farm 
work at which I continued until I was twenty- 
two. At twenty-one I came to Illinois and 
passed the first year in Macon county. Then I 
got to New Salem, at that time in Sangamon 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


3 2 5 


county, now in Menard county, where I remained 
a year as a sort of clerk in a store. Then came 
the Black Hawk Wars and I was elected a cap¬ 
tain of volunteers — a success which gave me 
more pleasure than any I have had since. I went 
on the campaign, was elated, ran for the Legis¬ 
lature the same year, (1832), and was beaten — 
the only time I have ever been beaten by the 
people. The next, and three succeeding biennial 
elections, I was elected to the Legislature. I 
was not a candidate afterward. During the 
Legislative period, I had studied law, and moved 
to Springfield to practice it. In 1846, I was 
elected to the Lower House of Congress. Was 
not a candidate for re-election. From 1849 to 
1854, both inclusive, practiced law more assidu¬ 
ously than ever before. Always a Whig in 
politics, and generally on the Whig electoral 
ticket, making active canvasses. I was losing 
interest in politics, when the repeal of the Mis¬ 
souri Compromise aroused me again. What I 
have done since then is pretty well known. If 
any personal description of me is thought desir¬ 
able it may be said, I am, in height, six feet four 
inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing, on an 
average one hundred and eighty pounds. Dark 
complexion, with coarse, black hair, and grey 
eyes. No other marks or brands recollected.” 

Mr. Lincoln’s life story thus briefly related, 


326 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


needs to be supplemented and enlarged from 
other sources, to afford an adequate view of his 
character and services. 

His birth place was in the wilderness; two- 
thirds of his native county was covered with 
picturesque forests, the remainder with barren 
hills and knobs. His parents were both of Vir¬ 
ginian birth. Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks 
were married in Kentucky, and settled in their 
log cabin home, on Nolin creek,, one and one- 
half miles west of Hogdenville, the county seat. 
In this rude structure, their three children, Sarah, 
Abraham and Thomas were born. Thomas died 
in infancy, Sarah lived to be married. Within 
two years from Abraham’s birth, his parents re¬ 
moved to Knob creek, six miles from Hogden¬ 
ville. While in Kentucky, Abraham attended 
two short terms of school; two and three months 
respectively. The father of Lincoln was very 
illiterate, being unable to read or write. Ilis 
mother had a very limited education but was 
able to read the Bible and other books she had 
to her children. Both of his parents were com¬ 
municants of the Baptist church. 

In the autumn of 1816, Thomas Lincoln sold 
his farm for $300, and took his pay in ten barrels 
of whiskey and twenty dollars* Building a flat 
boat on Rolling Creek and loading it with his 
whiskey and household goods, he moves his little 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 327 

family beyond the Ohio river. He wrecked his 
flat boat in the Ohio, losing two-thirds of his 
whiskey and some other goods. After repair¬ 
ing his boat and gathering together what he 
could he floated down the river to Thomson’s 
Ferry, and landed in Spencer county, Indiana, 
settling eighteen miles back from the river. Here 
they had lived but about two years, when the 
mother, a woman of delicate mind and body, 
died October 5th, 1818. This sad event, occur¬ 
ring when Abraham was in his tenth year, had a 
great effect upon his sensitive mind. He had 
attended three short terms of school in Indiana 
and had learned to read and write. His first 
letter was written to Mr. Elkins, a Baptist par¬ 
son, with whom the family had been acquainted 
for several years, requesting him to preach his 
mother’s funeral sermon. Upon the appointed 
Sunday, Parson Elkins arrived, having ridden a 
hundred miles on horseback, through the wilder¬ 
ness. The neighbors, to the number of two 
hundred, gathered from out that sparsely settled 
region, for many miles around and listened to the 
divine truth as expounded by Parson Elkins. 
Mr. Lincoln revered his mother and held her 
memory sacred; once he said, “All that I am or 
hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” 

The five short terms of Mr. Lincoln’s school 
life did not exceed one year. He was an inces- 


22 


328 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


sant reader of the books to which he had access. 
The Bible, FEsop’s Fables, The Pilgrim’s Pro¬ 
gress, and the lives of Washington, Franklin, and 
Clay were read and re-read by him. 

At the age of eighteen, he made a journey 
down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, to Louis¬ 
iana, with a flat boat load of farm products. Dur¬ 
ing the following year he was engaged to make a 
similar trip, with his neighbor’s son. His extreme 
good nature, great physical strength, and remark¬ 
able faculty for story telling, made him the 
acknowledged leader of his associates. These 
journeys gave Mr. Lincoln much useful knowl¬ 
edge of the world. 

At the age of twenty-one years and one month, 
he removed from the forests of Southwestern 
Indiana, to the prairie country of Illinois, locating 
about ten miles from Decatur, near the Sangamon 
river, in Macon county. Here, after assisting his 
father to fence in, plow and plant ten acres of 
corn, he announced his decision to commence 
work for himself. He procured employment of 
his neighbors at various kinds of work, such as 
splitting rails, which afterwards gave him the 
title of “Rail Splitter.” His services were en¬ 
gaged by Denton Offutt, a business trader of that 
locality, to assist in the building of a flat boat. 
When complete and loaded with hogs, Young 
Lincoln and one of the men took it to New Or- 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 329 

leans. So satisfactorily did he perform his por¬ 
tion, that he was placed in charge of Mr. Olfutt’s 
mill and store at New Salem, of which place he 
was made Postmaster by President Jackson. 
Storekeeping was a new business for him, but he 
soon acquainted himself with it; his honesty and 
manner of dealing won custom for his proprietor, 
calling the trade for miles around. The follow¬ 
ing may be related as an illustration of his deter¬ 
mined honesty: By mistake, he took six and 
one-fourth cents too much from a woman; upon 
finding this out he returned it to her, a distance 
of two and one-half miles, before he slept that 
night. Such acts as this won for him the name 
of “Honest Abe.” 

While at New Salem, (in 1832) the Black Hawk 
War broke out. Enough volunteers had enlisted 
from that neighborhood to form a company. The 
question arose who should be captain. There were 
two candidates, Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Kirkpatrick, 
who had been an oppressive employer of Mr. 
Lincoln. The two candidates were to stand a 
short distance apart and the men were to go to 
the one they desired. Nearly all went to Lin¬ 
coln and the few others soon joined them. In 
military life, Captain Lincoln was very popular 
with his men. Plis untiring energy, his freedom 
from selfishness; his devotion to their wants, and 
his appreciation of athletic sports made him so. 


330 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

Colonel Zachary Taylor was also in the Black 
Hawk War; thus from its commanders came 
two Presidents. 

Mr. Lincoln returned home in the autumn of 
1832 and was at once nominated by the Whig 
party as a candidate for representative to the 
Legislature from Sangamon county. Abraham 
was now twenty-three years of age. This was 
the year when General Jackson was the Demo¬ 
cratic candidate for re-election to the Presidency, 
and defeated his Whig opponent, Henry Clay, 
by a large majority. Sangamon county was 
strongly Democratic. Mr. Lincoln received al¬ 
most the entire vote of New Salem, but, being 
unacquainted in other parts of the county he lost 
the election. 

Mr. Offutt had failed in business and Lincoln 
was without employment. He thought of learn¬ 
ing the trade of a blacksmith, but soon obtained 
a partnership possession of the store at New 
Salem. His partner was frivolous and they soon 
broke up; this involved Mr. Lincoln in what he 
afterwards called the “National debt” and left 
him again without employment. He was offered 
the job by the County Surveyor, of doing the 
surveying in the neighborhood of New Salem. 
He accepted the position and at once began to 
qualify himself for the profession. In a short 
time he was doing good work as a surveyor. 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 33 I 

This occupation brought him in contact with the 
farmers of the county, and, by his good nature 
and pleasant manners he won the esteem of all. 

In 1834, he was again a Whig candidate for 
Representative in the Legislature. He was ad¬ 
vised to make public speeches, to which he re¬ 
plied that he would if they would not laugh at 
him. The speeches were made and won for him 
great popularity, and the election, by a decided 
majority. He walked to Vandalia, then the 
capital of the State, over a hundred miles distant 
to attend the sessions of the Legislature. In its 
meetings he did or said but little; however, he 
thought much and it proved an excellent school 
for him. 

About this time, Major John T. Stewart, who 
had become interested in Mr. Lincoln during 
their services in the Black Hawk War, advised 
him to study law and offered to loan him books 
from his office in Springfield. Mr. Lincoln ac¬ 
cepted his advice and friendly offer. He walked 
to Springfield and carried home a load of books 
and at once began a diligent study of their con¬ 
tents. In 1836, he was re-elected to the Legis¬ 
lature. The two years of legal study proved of 
vast benefit to him, in the bitter canvass that pre¬ 
ceded this election, in a joint discussion at Spring- 
field, he won laurels that caused him to be looked 
upon as one of the ablest men of Illinois. He 


33 2 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


was now twenty-seven years of age. The chief 
work of this.session was the consideration of in¬ 
ternal improvements, and the removal of the 
capital to Springfield. Mr. Lincoln favored both 
propositions. The stand he took upon these sub¬ 
jects made him very popular throughout Sanga¬ 
mon county, and especially in Springfiekl. It 
was in this Legislature that Mr. Lincoln first met 
Stephen A. Dougl’as, who was the smallest and 
youngest member, he being only twenty- 
three years of age. This Legislature adopted 
some pro-slavery resolutions, to which Mr. Lin¬ 
coln and his Whig colleague from Sangamon 
county, Daniel Stone, were the only opponents. 
They caused their objections, with reasons, to be 
entered upon the journal of the House. Mr. 
Lincoln continued to stand upon the conciliatory 
ground taken in this affair, until forced from it 
by a military necessity. 

In the autumn of 1836 Lincoln was admitted 
to the bar. His legal studies had been prose¬ 
cuted alone; assisted greatly, by his experience 
in the Legislature, as a surveyor, and by his gen¬ 
eral reading upon political subjects. In April, 
1837, he associated himself with Major Stewart, 
of Springfield by invitation of that gentleman. 
His services in the Legislature favoring the re¬ 
moval of the capital had made him honored and 
well known in Springfield. His prospects for 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


333 


professional employment were good. The prac¬ 
tice of the firm was interrupted by an extra ses¬ 
sion of the Legislature in July, 1837, and the 
election of Major Stewart to Congress. In 1838 
Lincoln was re-elected to the Legislature, where 
he was the recognized leader of the Whig side, 
lacking but one vote of being chosen Speaker. 

The financial crisis of ’37 had greatly weak¬ 
ened the Democratic party and brought the 
Whigs, suddenly, into popular favor. In 1840 
Mr. Lincoln was elected to the Legislature for 
the fourth time; after which he declined further 
service in that position. In 1840 Mr. Lincoln 
dissolved his partnership with Mr. Stewart and 
formed another with Judge S. T. Logan of Spring- 
field. His legal knowledge and his powers be¬ 
fore a jury, had gained him an extensive practice 
to which he resolved to devote himself more 
studiously, but at each recurring political canvass 
his services were needed. 

In 1840 occurred an episode which resulted in 
the arrangement for a duel between Mr. Lincoln 
and James Shields, afterwards General and 
United States Senator, which was to take place 
on Bloody Island in the Mississippi river, but 
was prevented by the interposition of friends. 

In 1842 occurred the marriage of Mr. Lincoln 
and Miss Mary Todd, daughter of Robert S. 
Todd of Lexington, Ky. This union proved to 
be an exceedingly happy one. 


334 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


In 1843, Mr. Lincoln had Congressional aspira¬ 
tions, but his friend Baker got the nomination 
and he assisted to elect him. In the Presidential 
canvass of 1844, Mr. Lincoln enthusiastically es¬ 
poused the cause of the Whig candidate, Henry 
Clay, his ideal statesman. He spoke extensively 
throughout Illinois and Indiana, and was greatly 
humiliated when Clay was defeated by James 
K. Polk, the Democratic candidate. This event 
for a time, shook Mr. Lincoln’s confidence in the 
ability of the people to govern themselves. In 
1846 he went to Lexington, Kentucky, to hear 
the speech of his political idol, upon Gradual 
Emancipation. Mr. Lincoln was invited to the 
home of Clay at Ashland. Here Clay did him 
great honor in recognition of his valuable ser¬ 
vices. Clay’s dominant, cold disposition con¬ 
trasted with the warm-hearted, friendly disposed 
Lincoln so widely, that Lincoln could not en¬ 
dorse him as before. During his visit Mr. Clay 
was lowered much in the estimation of Mr. Lin¬ 
coln. Mr. Lincoln was a partisan man, advanc¬ 
ing with his party. 

In 1846, Mr. Lincoln was made the Whig 
candidate for Representative from his district in 
the National House of Representatives. The 
canvass he conducted was an animated one. He 
opposed the annexation of Texas and the general 
policy of Polk’s administration in reference to 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


335 


Mexico. He was elected by the largest majority 
ever given a Whig candidate in that district. He 
took his seat in the Thirtieth Congress, Decem¬ 
ber 6th, 1847. There he introduced the “Spot 
Resolutions” which were laid on the table by the 
Democratic majority. These resolutions called 
upon the President for information giving the 
exact spots, where outrages were perpetrated by 
the Mexicans. January 12th, 1848, Mr. Lincoln 
delivered a speech, clearly pointing out the rela¬ 
tion of the War to this country and the Whig 
party. While in Congress he voted forty-two 
times in favor of the “ Wilmot Proviso,” and stood 
by John Quincy Adams for the “Right of Peti¬ 
tion.” Mr. Lincoln opposed slavery in every 
form except in the constitutionally recognized 
rights of that institution. He introduced a bill 
providing for the abolition of slavery in the Dis¬ 
trict of Columbia by the consent of its inhabi¬ 
tants, but it was imprudently delayed and never 
came to a vote. 

The National Whig Convention of 1848 met at 
Philadelphia on the 1st of June. Henry Clay 
was the idol of the party, but had been defeated 
at the last election. General Taylor, a slave¬ 
holder and nominal Whig, who had noj: voted 
for forty years, had just returned from Mexico 
laden with glory gained in the war the Whigs 
had opposed. Mr. Lincoln was a member of the 


336 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS* 

convention and favored the nomination of Gen¬ 
eral Taylor. He had lost considerable of his 
former admiration of Clay. Upon his return 
from Congress, Lincoln visited New England, 
making several speeches in behalf of General 
Taylor. He entered into a vigorous canvass .of 
Illinois, particularly his own Congressional dis¬ 
trict, which gave General Taylor almost as large 
a majority as he had obtained in his race for 
Congress. 

On quitting his seat in Congress in March, 
1849, Mr. Lincoln entered upon the successful 
practice of his profession. Now followed an era 
of retirement from active political life by Mr. 
Lincoln, who, with his wife and small family 
passed these few years most happily. He had 
risen from humble obscurity to a national repu¬ 
tation; he had many friends and an honorable 
employment at which to earn a livelihood. The 
following testimonials bear evidence of his pro¬ 
fessional worth. Judge Caton said of him: “He 
applied the principles of law to the transactions 
of men with great clearness and precision. He 
was a close reasoner. He reasoned by analogy 
and enforced his views by apt illustrations. His 
mode of speaking was generally of a plain and 
unimpassioned character, and yet he was the 
author of some of the most beautiful and eloquent 
passages in our language, which if collected, 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


337 


would lorm a valuable contribution to American 
literature. The most punctilious honor ever 
marked his professional and private life. 

“Who will ever know what society, literature, 
learning, the country and humanity, have failed 
to have that is rich and grand, because his great 
soul was cheated of an education by the hard 
fortune of his early years?” 

Judge Breese said of him: “For my single self, 
I have for a quarter of a century, regarded Mr. 
Lincoln as the finest lawyer I ever knew, and of 
a professional bearing so high-toned and honor¬ 
able as justly, and without derogating from the 
claims of others, entitling him to be presented to 
the claims of the profession, as a model well 
worthy the closest imitation.” 

Judge Drummond said of him: “I have no 
hesitation in saying that he was one of the ablest 
lawyers I have ever known. No intelligent man 
who ever watched Mr. Lincoln through a hard- 
contested case at the bar ever questioned his 
great ability. With a probity of character known 
of all, with an intuitive insight into the human 
heart, with a clearness of statement which was 
itself an argument, with uncommon power and 
felicity of illustration — often it is true, of a plain 
and homely kind — and with that sincerity and 
earnestness of manner which carried conviction, 
he was, perhaps, one of the most successful jury 


338 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

lawyers we have ever had in the State. He al¬ 
ways tried a case fairly and honestly. He never, 
intentionally, misrepresented the evidence of a 
witness, or the argument of an opponent. He 
met both squarely, and, if he could not explain 
the one, or answer the other, he admitted it. He 
never misstated the law according to his own 
intelligent view of it.” 

Henry Clay died in 1852. Mr. Lincoln de¬ 
livered a eulogy on that famous statesman of 
his day. The closing words were as follows: 
“Such a man the times have demanded, and such, 
in the providence of God was given us. But he 
is gone. Let us strive to deserve, as far as mor¬ 
tals may, the continued care of Divine Provi¬ 
dence, trusting that in future national emergencies, 
he will not fail to provide us the instruments of 
safety and security.” To no other person do 
these words apply so fitly, as do they to Mr. Lin¬ 
coln himself. It is almost certain that in the 
coming generations, he will be held as the fix- 
server of the country of which Washington was 
the father. 

In the Presidential canvass of 1852, between 
General Scott and General Pierce, Mr. Lincoln 
took but little interest. The repeal of the Mis¬ 
souri Compromise, and the enactment of the 
Kansas and Nebraska law, in 1854, stirred Mr. 
Lincoln to action. In the autunm of this year 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


339 


Stephen A. Douglas made a speech to the repre¬ 
sentative men of all parts of the State at a fair at 
Springfield, in support of the Kansas and Ne¬ 
braska bill. Upon the following day Mr. Lin¬ 
coln made a three hours speech in reply. A few 
days later Douglas made a similar speech at 
Peoria, whither he was followed and replied to 
by Mr. Lincoln. 

Mr. Lincoln was for many years, identified 
with the Temperance Reform, both by voice and 
example. At Bloomington, Illinois, May 29th, 
1856, the Republican party of that State was 
organized. To this convention Mr. Lincoln de¬ 
livered an able address, of which one of his biog¬ 
raphers says: “Never was an audience more 
electrified by human eloquence. Again and 
again, during the progress of its delivery, they 
sprang to their feet, and upon the benches, and 
testified by long continued applause, and the 
waving of their hats, how deeply the speaker had 
wrought upon their minds and hearts. It fused 
the mass of hitherto incongruous elements into 
perfect homogenity; and from that day to this 
they have worked together in fraternal union.” 

This convention sent delegates to the National 
Convention, and recommended Mr. Lincoln’s 
name for Vice-President. General John C. Fre¬ 
mont of California and Mr. Dayton of New Jer¬ 
sey received the Republican nomination, but were 


340 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

defeated by Buchanan and Breckenridge. They 
received, however, 114 electoral votes, and a 
majority of the popular vote of 110,000. 

In 1858 occurred the memorable debate ot Mr. 
Douglas and Mr. Lincoln, which was perhaps, 
the greatest oral political discussion the world 
has ever witnessed. The Illinois Republican 
State Convention of that year met at Springfield 
on the 16th of June, and unanimously declared 
itself in favor of Abraham Lincoln as the suc¬ 
cessor of Mr. Douglas in the United States Sen¬ 
ate. The remarkable speech delivered by Mr. 
Lincoln upon this occasion,opens as follows: “If 
we could first know where we are, and whither 
we are tending, we could better judge what to 
do and how to do it. We are now far into the 
fifth year since a policy was initiated with the. 
avowed object and confident promise of putting 
an end to slavery agitation. Under the opera¬ 
tion of that policy, that agitation has not only not 
ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my 
opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have 
been reached and passed. ‘A house divided 
against itself cannot stand.’ I believe this gov¬ 
ernment cannot endure permanently half slave 
and half free. I do not expect the Union to be 
dissolved. I do not expect the house to fall, but 
I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will 
become all one thing, or all the other. Either the 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 341 

opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread 
of it, and place it where the public mind shall 
rest in the belief that it is in the course of ulti¬ 
mate extinction, or its advocates will push it for¬ 
ward until it shall become alike lawful in all the 
states, old as well as new, North as well as 
South.” This speech went on to delineate the 
different efforts of the advocates of slavery and 
terminated as follows: “We shall not fail—if we 
stand firm, we shall not fail. Wise counsels 
may accelerate, or mistakes delay it, but sooner 
or later, the victory is sure to come.” Both 
Lincoln and Douglas commenced the canvass 
alone. In July, Mr. Lincoln proposed they stump 
N the state together. This proposition was refused 
by Douglas on the ground that his arrangements 
were too far made, but proposed in return, to 
meet him in seven joint debates, one in each of 
the seven congressional districts. Immense 
crowds gathered to hear each of these able dis¬ 
cussions. A Democratic Legislature was chosen, 
and Mr. Douglas was re-elected United States 
Senator. Mr. Lincoln made about sixty speeches 
during this canvass. When asked how he liked 
his defeat, he said: “I felt like the boy who had 
stubbed his toe—too badly to laugh, and too big 
to cry.” 

In 1859 Mr. Lincoln visited Kansas, and was 
received with wild enthusiasm, after which he 


34 2 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


went to Ohio, where he met with an exceedingly 
popular demonstration. From Ohio he went to 
New York, having made arrangements with 
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher to speak in Plymouth 
Church. Before he arrived the plans were 
changed and the meeting was to occur at Coop¬ 
er’s Institute. The hall was filled by the first 
men of the city. Mr. Lincoln was introduced 
by Wm. Cullen Bryant. His speech was all this 
fine audience had dared to expect, and it was 
received with round after round of applause. 
This address was printed and read throughout 
the entire North. It and his joint debates of the 
previous year caused him to be nominated for 
the Presidency in i860. Mr. Lincoln now visited 
his son at Harvard College and made several 
speeches throughout New England, which were 
received with the same enthusiasm as his pre¬ 
vious efforts. The people were pleased with the 
fair manner in which Mr. Lincoln treated the 
South. He was of Southern birth, and had mar¬ 
ried a lady of Southern birth, education and cul¬ 
ture. 

In April, i860, the National Democratic Con¬ 
vention met at Charleston, South Carolina, but 
failed to nominate a candidate, Mr. Douglas lack¬ 
ing a few votes of having the necessary two- 
thirds of the convention. The Northern winsf 

o 

adjourned to Baltimore, where in the following 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


343 


June it nominated Mr. Douglas. In the mean¬ 
time the extreme Southern element had nomi¬ 
nated John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky. The 
Constitutional Union party nominated John C. 
Bell of Tennessee for President and Edward Ev¬ 
erett of Massachusetts for Vice-President. The 
Republican National Convention assembled at 
Chicago, June 16, i860. Eleven candidates were 
before the convention, of whom Mr. Lincoln and 
Wm. H. Seward were the most prominent. The 
meeting was an enthusiastic one. Lincoln was 
nominated on the third ballot. The scene that 
followed was described by Dr. J. G. Holland, as 
follows: “The excitement had culminated. 

After a moment’s pause, like the sudden and 
breathless stillness that precedes the hurricane, 
the storm of wild, uncontrollable, and almost in¬ 
sane enthusiasm, descended. The scene -sur¬ 
passed description. During all the ballotings, 
a man had been standing upon the roof, com¬ 
municating the results to the outsiders, who, in 
surging masses far outnumbered those who were 
packed in the Wigwam. To this man one of 
the secretaries shouted, 6 Fire the salute! Abe 
Lincoln is nominatedP Then as the cheering 
inside died away, the roar began on the outside, 
and swelled up from the excited masses like the 
voice of many waters. This the insiders heard, 
and to it they replied. Thus deep called to deep 


23 


344 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


with such a frenzy of sympathetic enthusiasm, 
that even the thundering salute of the cannon 
was unheard by many on the platform.’ 5 The 
campaign that followed these nominations was 
extremely bitter. The slavery question was the 
all-absorbing topic before the people. The 
Southern leaders declared they would secede from 
the Union if Lincoln was elected. Mr. Lincoln 
led a party, confident of success, against a dis¬ 
cordant opposition, and was at once beset by a 
multitude of office-seekers. He had accepted 
the nomination, distrusting his own capacities; 
this feeling of incompetency often overwhelmed 
him. In one of his despondent moods, he asked 
Mr. Newton Bateman, superintendent of public 
instruction, to come into his office. He locked 
the doors and sat down and talked. He took a 
small book from the drawer containing the names 
of all the voters of Springfield and how they 
would vote. As they ran them over he was 
particular to note the names of the ministers and 
leading churchmen. At length he said in tones 
of sadness: “Here are twenty-three ministers 
of different denominations, and all of them are 
against me but three; and here are a great many 
prominent members of the church, a very large 
majority of whom are against me. Mr. Bate¬ 
man, I am not a Christian—God knows I would 
be one—but I have carefully read the Bible, and 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


345 


do not understand this book,” and he drew from 
his bosom a pocket New Testament. “These 
men well know,” he continued, “that I am for 
freedom in the territories, freedom everywhere 
as far as the constitution and laws will permit, 
and that my opponents are for slavery. They 
know this, and yet with this book in their hands, 
in the light of which human bondage cannot live 
a moment, they are going to vote against me. 
I do not understand it at all.” He was overcome 
with emotion. At length, his cheeks wet with 
tears, he said, with a slow, tremulous voice: “I 
know that there is a God, and he hates injustice 
and slavery. I see the storm coming and know 
that his hand is in it. If he has a place and 
work for me, and I think he has, I am ready. I 
am nothing but truth in everything. I know I 
am right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God. 
I have told them that a house divided against 
itself cannot stand, and Christ and reason say 
the same thing; and they will find it so. Doug¬ 
las don’t care whether slavery is voted up or 
down, but God cares, and humanity cares, and I 
care, and with God’s help I shall not fail. I may 
not see the end, but it will come, and I shall be 
vindicated, and these men will find that they 
have not read their Bibles aright.” After some 
silence, he resumed: “Doesn’t it appear strange 
that men can ignore the moral aspects of this 


346 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

contest? Revelation could not make it plainer 
to me that slavery or the government must be 
destroyed. The future would be something aw¬ 
ful, as I look at it, but for this rock on which I 
stand, (the New Testament, which he held in his 
hand,) especially with the knowledge of how 
these ministers are going to vote. It seems that 
God had borne with this thing [slavery] until the 
very teachers of religion have come to defend it 
from the Bible [quite common in the South], and 
to claim for it a divine character and a sanction; 
and now the cup of iniquity is full and the vials 
of wrath will be poured out.” The election re¬ 
sulted in the choice of Lincoln and Hamlin. The 
electoral vote stood as follows: Lincoln 180, 
Douglas 12, Breckenridge 72, Bell 39. The popu¬ 
lar vote was, for Lincoln, 1,857,610; for Douglas, 
1,291,574; for Breckenridge, 850,082; for Bell, 
646,124. 

November 10th, i860, just four days after Lin¬ 
coln’s election, South Carolina issued a call for 
10,000 volunteers; early in December, her Sena¬ 
tors and Representatives resigned. December 
17th a convention met to consider the measure 
of secession which was formally declared on the 
20th. The Southern Senators held a caucus, at 
Washington, January 8th, 1861, and decided 
upon secession. Six states, viz: Georgia, Flor¬ 
ida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


347 


soon followed the example of South Carolina, 
and passed ordinances of secession. The national 
forts, arsenals, and navy-yards in these States, 
were immediately seized by the Confederate au¬ 
thorities. 

February nth, 1861, Mr. Lincoln started from 
his home at Springfield to the National Capital. 
At the depot he spoke as follows: “My friends, 
no one not in my position can appreciate the 
sadness that I feel at this parting. To this peo¬ 
ple I owe all that I am. Here I have lived for 
more than a quarter of a century. Here my 
children were born, and here one of them lies 
buried. I know not how soon I shall see you 
again. A duty devolves upon me which is 
greater, perhaps, than that which has devolved 
upon any other man since the days of Washing¬ 
ton. He never would have succeeded, except 
for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which, he 
at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed 
without the same divine aid which sustained him, 
and on the same Almighty Being I place my 
reliance for support, and I hope you, my friends, 
will pray that I may receive that divine assist¬ 
ance, without which, I cannot succeed, but with 
which success is certain. I bid you all an affec¬ 
tionate farewell.” 

While at Philadelphia upon his way to Wash¬ 
ington, a conspiracy to kill him was discovered, 


348 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

and to elude the probabilities of danger, the re¬ 
mainder of his journey was made in advance of 
the announced time and he arrived at Washington 
in safety. Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated sixteenth 
President of the United States March 4th, 1861, 
amid a fine military display. In his inaugural 
address, he said: “Apprehension seems to exist, 
among the people of the Southern States, that, 
by the accession of a Republican administration, 
their property and their peace and personal 
security are to be endangered. I have no pur¬ 
pose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the 
institution of slavery in the States where it exists. 
I believe I have no lawful right to do so; and I 
have no inclination to do so. I only press upon 
the public attention the most conclusive evidence 
of which the case is susceptible, that the prop¬ 
erty, peace, and security of no section are to be 
in any wise endangered by the incoming admin¬ 
istration. 

“A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore 
only menaced, is now formidably attempted. I 
hold, that, in the contemplation of universal law 
and of the Constitution, the Union of these 
States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, 
if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all 
national governments. It is safe to assert, 
that no government proper ever had a pro¬ 
vision in -its organic law for its own termina- 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


349 


tion. Continue to execute all the express 
provisions of our national constitution, and the 
Union will endure forever; it being impossible to 
destroy it, except by some action not provided 
for in the instrument itself. 

“I therefore consider, that, in view of the con¬ 
stitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken; 
and, to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, 
as the constitution itself expressly enjoins upon 
me, that the laws of the Union shall be faithfully 
executed in all the States. Doing this, which I 
deem to be only a simple duty on my part, I shall 
perfectly perform it, so far as is practicable, un¬ 
less my rightful masters, the American people, 
shall withhold the requisition, or in some authori¬ 
tative manner direct the contrary. 

“I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, 
but only as the declared purpose of the Union, 
that if will constitutionally defend and maintain 
itself. 

“In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-country¬ 
men, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of 
civil war. The government will not assail you. 

“You can have no conflict without being your¬ 
selves the aggressors. You have no oath regis¬ 
tered in Heaven to destroy the government, while 
I shall have the most solemn one to ‘preserve, 
protect, and defend’ it. 

“I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but 


35 ° 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


friends. We must not be enemies. Though pas¬ 
sion may have strained, it * must not break, our 
bonds of affection. 

“The mystic cords of memory stretching from 
every battlefield and patriot grave to every living 
heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, 
will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when 
again touched, as surely they will be, by the bet¬ 
ter angels of our nature.” 

Mr. Lincoln entered cautiously upon the arduous 
task before him, desiring to not provoke further 
disruption of the Union. He simply placed the 
remaining forts in a state of defense, and labored 
to save to the Union the remaining eight slave 
states; but despite all his efforts Virginia, Ten¬ 
nessee, North Carolina, and Arkansas, soon joined 
the Confederacy. 

April 15th, 1861, President Lincoln called for 
75,000 volunteers to defend the National Capital. 
In the following month he called for an additional 
number of 42,000 to serve for three years. 

In June, 1861, the United States refused a 
proposition of neutrality from Great Britain. 
Congress met in extra session, July 4th, voting 
500,000 men and $500,000,000 with which to 
prosecute the war, and legalized the acts of 
President Lincoln in calling for troops. 

The following extracts from speeches by 
Stephen A. Douglas, at Washington and Chicago, 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


35i 

are clearly indicative of the noble stand he took 
to preserve the Union at all hazards, and of the 
value of his eloquence at that time so near his 
death. 

“Mr. President, I cordially concur in every 
word of that document, except that, in the call 
for 75,000 men, I would make it 200,000. You 
do not know the dishonest purposes of those men 
as well as I do. 

“If war must come, if the bayonet must be 
used to maintain the constitution, I say, before 
God, my conscience is clean. I have struggled 
long for a peaceful solution of the difficulty. I 
have not only tendered those states what was 
their right, but I have gone to the very extreme 
of magnanimity. 

“The return we receive is war, armies marched 
upon our capital, obstruction and danger to our 
navigation, letters of marque to invite pirates to 
prey upon our commerce, and a concerted move¬ 
ment to blot out the United States of America 
from the map of the globe. The question is, ‘are 
we to maintain the country of our fathers, or al¬ 
low it to be stricken down by those, who, when 
they can no longer govern, threaten to destroy?’ 

“The present secession movement is the result 
of an enormous conspiracy, formed more than a 
year since, formed by the leaders in the Southern 
Confederacy more than twelve months ago. 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


35 * 

“This conspiracy is now known, armies have 
been raised, war is levied to accomplish it. There 
are only two sides to the question. Every man 
must be for the United States or against it. There 
can be no neutrals in this war, only patriots or 
traitors .” 

The following is a summary of the principal 
battles fought, and victories won during the first 
year of the war. The large arsenals at Harper’s 
Ferry and Norfolk had fallen into the hands of 
the Confederates. They had been victorious in 
the great battles of Bull Run and Wilson’s Creek; 
also in the engagements at Big Bethel, Carthage, 
Lexington, Belmont, and Ball’s Bluff. The 
Federals had successfully defended Ft. Pickens 
and Fortress Monroe, and had captured the forts 
at Flatteras Inlet and Port Royal. Philipi, Rich 
Mountain, Boonesville, Carrick’s Ford, Cheat 
Mountain, Cornifex Ferry and Dranesville had 
each been the scene of a victory for the Unionists. 

April 16th, 1862, President Lincoln signed the 
bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia, 
slave holders that entered claims in ninety days 
were compensated. 

September 22nd, 1862, Mr. Lincoln issued his 
preliminary proclamation, stating that in one hun¬ 
dred days, the slaves of all the states, or parts of 
states, in rebellion, should be free. In pursuance 
of this, President Lincoln, on the first of January, 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 353 

1863, issued the Immortal Emancipation Procla¬ 
mation, freeing nearly 4,000,000 slaves. 

At the end of 1862, the year’s movements and 
victories may be summed up briefly as follows: 
The Federals had won important victories in 
the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson; had 
been successful in the great battles of Pea Ridge, 
Shiloh, Antietam and Murfreesboro. The de¬ 
structive career of the Merrimac had been 
brought to an end. Lesser engagements were 
fought and won at Forts Pulaski, Macon, Jackson, 
St. Philip, and Island No. 10; the Mississippi had 
been opened to Vicksburg, and New Orleans, 
Roanoke Island, Newberne, Yorktown, Norfolk 
and Memphis had been occupied by the Unionists. 
The battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, South 
Mountain, Perryville, Iuka and Corinth had been 
gained by them. On the other hand the Con¬ 
federates had been successful in the Shenandoah 
Valley under the leadership of Stonewall Jackson; 
Lee had led them to victory in the Peninsular 
campaign and the engagements with Pope; Bragg 
had raided Kentucky and secured large amounts 
of supplies, and the battles of Cedar Mountain, 
Chickasaw Bluff, and Fredericksburg, had af¬ 
forded them substantial victories. 

November 19th, 1863, President Lincoln de¬ 
livered upon the occasion of the dedication of the 
Gettysburg cemetery, an address in which he 


354 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


said: “That we here highly resolve that these 
dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation, 
under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; 
and that government of the people, by the peo¬ 
ple, and for the people shall not perish from the 
earth.” 

In October, 1863, Mr. Lincoln called for 300,000 
volunteers, to replace those whose term of en¬ 
listment had expired. March 15th, 1864, he 
called for 200,000 more troops. The third year 
of the war was one of great victories and defeats, 
and resulted, as a whole, in decided advantage to 
the Union cause. The Confederates had gained 
the great battles of Chickamauga and Chancel¬ 
lors ville; had seized Galveston and held Charleston 
against all attacks. The Federals had gained 
the important battles before Vicksburg, and those 
at Chattanooga, Knoxville and at Gettysburg. 
Large numbers of Confederate troops were taken 
prisoners of war. Federal gunboats had free use 
of the Mississippi river and Arkansas, Tennes¬ 
see, and large portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, 
and Texas had been won for the Union. 

In April, 1864, Lincoln accepted an offer from 
the governors of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wis¬ 
consin, to furnish 100,000 one hundred day men. 
In June, 1864, he signed the bill repealing the 
Fugitive Slave Law, and on the 8th of the same 
month was nominated b}^ the National Republi- 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


355 


can Convention, for re-election to the Presidency 
along with Andrew Johnson of Tennessee. His 
Democratic opponent was General George B. 
McClellan. This canvass was the quietest ever 
known in the history of the country. Lincoln 
was re-elected, receiving 212 electoral votes and 
McClellan but 21. The popular vote was, for 
Lincoln, 2,223,035, and for McClellan, 1,811,754. 

June 22nd, 1864, President Lincoln visited the 
Army before Petersburg and was enthusiastically 
cheered by the soldiers. July 18th, he called for 
500,000 more troops. 

September 3rd, 1864, Lincoln issued a proc¬ 
lamation of thanksgiving, on account of the 
victories achieved by the army under General 
Sherman, and on December 19th, 1864, a call 
for 200,000 more troops. In reviewing the 
fourth year of the war it is seen that the Con¬ 
federates had won the battles of Olustee, Sabine 
Cross Roads, the Wilderness, Bermuda Hundred, 
Spottsylvania, New Market, Cold Harbor and 
Monocacy; had defeated the expeditions into 
Florida and the Red River country, and resisted 
the attacks upon Petersburg and against Fort 
Fisher. The Federals had gained the battles of 
Pleasant Hill, Resaca, Dallas, Kenesaw, Atlanta, 
Winchester, Fisher’s Hill, Cedar Creek, Frank¬ 
lin and Nashville. Fort de Russey and Fort 
McAlister, together with those in Mobile harbor 


356 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

had fallen into the hands of the Unionists. Sher¬ 
man had severed the Confederacy by his “March 
to the Sea” and Sheridan had lain waste to the 
Shenandoah Valley; Thomas had destroyed 
Hood’s army; Grant had pressed Lee into narrow 
quarters at Richmond; many successes had been 
achieved by the navy; in fact the Confederate 
cause had lost grounds on every side and at the 
end of the year 1864, fully retained but two States, 
North and South Carolina. 

Upon April 3rd, 1865, the Union troops took 
possession of Richmond, the Confederate capital. 
Lee retreated southward, but was surrounded at 
Appomattox Court House, where he surrendered 
upon the 9th. Thus ended the great Civil War. 

January 16th, 1865, Mr. Lincoln expressed his 
willingness to make overtures, concerning peace, 
with Mr. Davis or other Confederates of high au¬ 
thority. This resulted in a meeting on a gunboat 
in Hampton Roads, of Mr. Lincoln and Wm. H. 
Seward for the Government, and J. A. Campbell, 
R. M. T. Hunter and Alexander H. Stephens for 
the Confederacy. This meeting was barren of 
any results, except of showing the firmness of 
the National Government. 

January 31st, 1865, President Lincoln con¬ 
gratulated himself, the country, and the world, 
on the great moral victory achieved by the over¬ 
throw of slavery. March 4th, 1865, Mr. Lincoln 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


357 


was re-inaugurated President of the United 
States. The following are the closing words of 
his inaugural address: “With malice toward 
none, with charity for all, with firmness in the 
right as God gives us to see the right, let us 
strive to finish the work we are in, to bind up 
the Nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall 
have borne the battle and for his widow and 
orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish 
a just and lasting place among ourselves and with 
all nations.” 

April 3d, 1865, President Lincoln visited 

Richmond, and was enthusiastically received by 
the Freedmen at the ex-confederate capital. 

We have spoken of attempts made to assassin¬ 
ate President Lincoln. Soon after his return 
from the Confederate capital, a bold plan was 
arranged to assassinate a number of leading men 
of the Union. Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, 
and President Lincoln suffered at the hands of 
this deeply lain conspiracy. Mr. Lincoln had 
received an invitation to attend a play at Ford’s 
Theatre, and reluctantly consented to go. While 
seated with his wife and some friends in a pri¬ 
vate box, a play actor, by name of John Wilkes 
Booth, entered from the rear, placed a pistol 
within a few inches of the President’s head and 
fired. The assassin, flourishing a dagger, and 
shouting, “Sic semper tyrcinnis ,” rushed across 


358 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


the stage, and, amid the noise and confusion that 
followed, and assisted by accomplices, made good 
his escape for a time. This occurred at 10:15 
P. M., April 14th, 1865. The bleeding and un¬ 
conscious form of the President was carried to a 
private house where medical aid was summoned. 
His wound was pronounced mortal. A sad 
scene in Washington and all the Union followed. 
As President Lincoln lay upon his bloody pillow, 
Stanton, Welles, Sumner, McCulloch, and other 
leading men of the nation gathered around him. 
These strong men’s eyes were flooded with tears, 
and many wept with uncontrollable emotion. 
At twenty-two minutes past seven the next morn¬ 
ing the President died. Never before was a 
nation plunged into such deep grief at the death 
of a Ruler. 

Referring to the deed of this assassin, and the 
attempts to sever the Union, Mr. Bancroft said: 

“To that Union Abraham Lincoln has fallen a 
martyr. His death, which was meant to sever 
it beyond repair, binds it more closely and more 
firmly than ever. The death blow aimed at him 
was aimed not at the native of Kentucky, not at 
the citizen of Illinois, but at the man who, as 
President in the executive branch of the govern¬ 
ment, stood as the representative of every man 
in the United States. The object of the crime 
was the life of the whole people; and it wounds 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


359 


the affections of the whole people. From Maine 
to the Southwest boundary of the Pacific, it 
makes us one. The country may have needed 
an imperishable grief to touch its inmost feeling. 
The grave that receives the remains of Lincoln, 
receives the martyr to the Union; the monument 
which will rise over his body will bear witness to 
the Union; his enduring memory will assist dur¬ 
ing countless ages to bind the States together, 
and incite to the love of our one, undivided, indivis¬ 
ible country. Peace to the ashes of our departed 
friend, the friend of his country and his race. 
Happy was his life, for he was the restorer of 
the republic; he was happy in his death, for the 
manner of his end will plead forever for the Union 
of the States and the freedom of man.” 

As the awful news, flew out to the nation and 
the world, untold sorrow spread o’er our people. 
Multitudes wept and prayed, in vain, to extricate 
themselves from the calamity that had befallen 
the nation. From ocean to ocean were displayed 
countless evidences of profound sorrow. The 
affection of a bereaved people, bestowed many 
tributes of love and respect upon the casket of 
the dead President at Washington; and all along 
the route of the funeral train, which was to 
Springfield, Illinois, over the same route he came 
to Washington, when first inaugurated, a distance 
of 1,500 miles. Bells tolled and bands of music 
breathed forth their plaintive requiems. 24 


3<5° 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Dr. Gurley, in his noble tribute to the deceased, 
said: “Probably no man, since the days of 
Washington, was ever so deeply and firmly im¬ 
bedded and enshrined in the hearts of the people 
as Abraham Lincoln.” 

As the train reached Springfield on the morn¬ 
ing of May 3rd, Bishop Simpson in his funeral 
address quoted the following prophetic words 
from a speech of Mr. Lincoln in 1859. Speaking 
of the slave power, Mr. Lincoln said: 

“Broken by it, I, too, may be; bow to it I never 
will. The probability that we may fail in the 
struggle, ought not to deter us from the support 
of a cause which I deem to be just; and it shall 
not deter me. If ever I feel the soul within 
me elevate and expand to those dimensions not 
wholly unworthy of the Almighty Architect, it 
is when I contemplate the cause of my country, 
deserted by all the world besides, and I standing 
up boldly and alone, and hurling defiance at 
her victorious oppressors. Here, without con¬ 
templating consequences, before high Heaven, 
and in the face of the world, I swear eternal 
fidelity to the just cause, as I deem it, of the 
land of my life, my liberty and my love.” 

The statement contained in “The London Spec¬ 
tator” will surely be transmitted to posterity, and. 
be deemed a truthful verdict. “Abraham Lincoln 
was the best, if not the ablest man, then 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


3 61 

ruling, over any country in the civilized world.” 

The following is an extract from the oration 
delivered in New York upon the occasion of Mr. 
Lincoln’s death, by our great historian, George 
Bancroft: 

“Those who come after us will decide how 
much of the wonderful results of his public 
career is due to his own good common sense, his 
shrewd sagacity, readiness of wit, quick interpre¬ 
tation of the public mind, his rare combination of 
fixedness and pliancy, his steady tendency of pur¬ 
pose; how much to the American people, who, 
as he walked with them side by side, inspired him 
with their own wisdom and energy; and how 
much to the overruling laws of the moral world, 
by which the selfishness of evil is made to defeat 
itself. But after every allowance, it will remain 
that members of the government which preceded 
his administration opened the gates of treason, 
and he closed them; that when he went to Wash¬ 
ington the ground upon which he trod shook 
under his feet, and he left the republic on a solid 
foundation; that traitors had seized public forts 
and arsenals, and he recovered them for the 
United States, to whom they belonged; that the 
capital which he found the abode of slaves, is 
now the home only of the free; that the bound¬ 
less public domain which was grasped at, and, in 
a great measure ? held for the diffusion of slavery, 


362 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


is now irrevocably devoted to freedom; that then 
men talked a jargon of a balance of power in a 
republic between slave States and free States, 
and now the foolish words are blown away for¬ 
ever, by the breath of Maryland, Missouri and 
Tennessee; that a terrible cloud of political heresy 
rose from the abyss threatening to hide the light 
of the sun, and under its darkness a rebellion 
was rising into indefinable proportions; now the 
atmosphere is purer than ever before, and the 
insurrection is vanishing away; the country is cast 
into another mold and the gigantic system of 
wrong, which had been the work of more than 
two centuries, is dashed down, we hope, forever. 
And as to himself personally, he was then scofifed 
at by the proud as unfit for the station, and now, 
against the usage of later years, and in spite of 
numerous competitors, he was the unbiased and 
the undoubted choice of the American people for 
a second term of office. Through all the mad 
business of treason he retained the sweetness of 
a most placable disposition; and the slaughter of 
myriads of the best on the battlefield, and the 
more terrible destruction of our men in captivity 
by the slow torture of exposure and starvation, 
had never been able to provoke him into harbor¬ 
ing one vengeful feeling or one purpose of 
cruelty. 

“How shall the nation most completely show its 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


363 


sorrow at Mr. Lincoln’s death? How shall it 
best honor his memory? There can be but one 
answer. He was struck down when he was 
highest in its service, and in strict conformity 
with duty was engaged in carrying out principles 
affecting its life, its good name, and its relations 
to the cause of freedom and the progress of man¬ 
kind. Grief must take the character of action; 
and breathe itself forth in the assertion of the 
policy to which he fell a sacrifice. The standard 
which he held in his hand must be uplifted again, 
higher and more firmly than before, and must be 
carried on to triumph. Above everything else, 
his proclamation of the first day of January, 1863, 
declaring throughout the parts of the country in 
rebellion the freedom of all persons who have 
been held as slaves, must be affirmed and main¬ 
tained.” 

Victor Hugo, the great French statesman, 
wrote to a friend in Boston: 

“At the'moment you were writing, the North 
was victorious and Lincoln alive. To-day Lin¬ 
coln is dead. That death ennobles Lincoln and 
confirms the victory. The South has gained 
nothing by this crime. Slavery is abolished. It 
is abolished by the glorious means with which it 
has been attacked, and through the execrable 
means by which it has been defended. Long 
live Liberty ! Long live the Republic !” 


364 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the eminent poet- 
Scholar, in his oration at Boston uttered the fol¬ 
lowing words: 

“In this country, on Saturday, every one was 
struck dumb, and saw, at first, only deep below 
deep, as he meditated on the ghastly blow. And, 
perhaps, at this hour, when the coffin which 
contains the dust of the President sets forward 
on its long march through mourning States, on 
its way to his home in Illinois, we might well be 
silent, and suffer the awful voices of the time to 
thunder to us. Yes, but that first despair was 
brief; the man was not so to be mourned. He 
was the most active and hopeful of men; and his 
work had not perished; but acclamations of praise 
for the task he had accomplished burst out into a 
song of triumph, which even tears for his death 
cannot keep down. 

“The President stood before us a man of the 
people. He was thoroughly American, had 
never crossed the sea, had never befen spoiled 
by English insularity or French dissipation; a 
quiet, native, aboriginal man, as an acorn from 
the oak; no aping of foreigners, no frivolous ac¬ 
complishments, Kentuckian born, working on a 
farm, a flatboatman, a captain in the Blackhawk 
War, a country lawyer, a representative in the 
rural Legislature of Illinois—on such modest 
foundations the broad structure of his fame was 


Abraham Lincoln. 365 

laid. How slowly, yet by happily prepared 
steps, he came to his place. 

* * * “A plain man of the people, ex¬ 

traordinary fortune attended him. Lord Bacon 
says: “Manifest virtues procure reputation; oc¬ 
cult ones, fortune.” He offered no shining 
qualities at the first encounter; he did not of¬ 
fend by superiority. He had a face and manner 
which disarmed suspicion, which inspired con¬ 
fidence, which confirmed good will. He was 
a man without vices. He had a strong sense 
of duty which was very easy for him to obey. 
Then he had what farmers call a long head; was 
excellent in working out the sum for himself; in 
arguing his case, and convincing you fairly and 
firmly. 

“Then it turned out that he was a great work¬ 
er; had prodigious faculty of performance; worked 
easily. A good worker is so rare; everybody 
has some disabling quality. In a host of young 
men that start together and promise so many 
brilliant leaders for the next age, each fails on 
trial: one by bad health, one by conceit or love 
of pleasure, or by lethargy, or by hasty temper— 
each has some disqualifying fault that throws 
him out of the career. But this man was sound 
to the core, cheerful, persistent, all right for labor, 
and liked nothing so well. 

“Then he had a vast good nature, which made 


366 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


him tolerant and accessible to all; fairminded, 
leaning to the claim of the petitioner; affable, 
and not sensible to the affliction which the in¬ 
numerable visits paid to him, when President, 
would have brought to any one else. And how 
this good nature became a noble humanity, in 
many a tragic case which the events of the war 
brought to him, every one will remember, and 
with what increasing tenderness he dealt, when 
a whole race was thrown on his compassion. 
The poor negro said of him on an impressive 
occasion, ‘Massa Linkum am everywhere.’ 

“Then his broad good humor, running easily 
into jocular talk, in which he delighted, and in 
which he excelled, was a rich gift to this wise 
man. It enabled him to keep his secret, to meet 
every kind of man, and every rank in society; to 
take off the edge of the severest decision, to 
mask his own purpose and sound his companion, 
and to catch with true instinct the temper of 
every company he addressed. And more than 
all, it is to a man of severe labor, in anxious and 
exhausting crisises, the natural restorative, good 
as sleep, and is the protection of the over-driven 
brain against rancor and insanity. 

“He is the author of a multitude of good say¬ 
ings, so disguised as pleasantries that it is certain 
they had no reputation at first but as jests; and 
only later, by the very acceptance and adoption 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 


367 

they find in the mouths of millions, turn out to 
be the wisdom of the hour. I am sure if this 
man had ruled in a period of less facility of 
printing, he would have become mythological in 
a very few years, like ^Esop or Pilpay, or one of 
the Seven Wise Masters, by his fables and 
proverbs. 

“But the weight and penetration of many pas¬ 
sages in his letters, messages and speeches, hid¬ 
den now by the very closeness of their application 
to the moment, are destined hereafter to a wide 
fame. What pregnant definitions; what unerring 
common sense; what foresight, and on great 
occasions, what lofty, and more than national, 
what humane tone! His brief speech at Gettysburg 
will not easily be surpassed by words on any 
recorded occasion. * * * 

“It cannot be said there is any exaggeration of 
his worth. If ever a man was fairly tested, he 
was. There was no lack of resistance, nor of 
slander, nor of ridicule. The times have allowed 
no State secrets; the Nation has been in such a 
ferment, such multitudes had to be trusted, that 
no secret could be kept. Every door was ajar 
and we know all that befell. 

“Then what an occasion was the whirlwind of 
the war. Here was place for no holiday magis¬ 
trate, no fair-weather sailor; the new pilot was 
hurried to the helm in a tornado. In four years 


3 68 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


—the four years of battle days—his endurance, 
his fertility of resources, his magnanimity, were 
sorely tried and never found wanting. 

“There, by his courage, his justice, his even 
temper, his fertile- counsel, his humanity, he stood 
an heroic figure in the center of an heroic epoch. 
He is the true history of the American people in 
his time. Step by step, he walked before them; 
slow with their slowness; quickening his march 
by theirs; the true representative of the conti¬ 
nent; an entirely public man; father of his country; 
the pulse of twenty millions throbbing in his 
heart, the thought of their minds articulated by 
his tongue.” 

William Cullen Bryant, the venerable poet, 
composed a hymn for the obsequies of Lincoln in 
New York. The following are the closing lines 
of this immortal poem: 

“Thy task is done; the bond are free; 

We bear thee to an honored grave, 
Whose proudest monument shall be 
The broken fetters of the slave. 

Pure was thy life; its bloody close 

Has placed thee with the sons of light, 
Among the noble host of those 

Who perished in the cause of Right.” 


Andrew Johnson. 


369 


Chapter XVII. 


ANDREW JOHNSON. 



of December, 1808. His parents were exceed¬ 
ingly poor. His father, Jacob Johnson, found 
employment as city constable, sexton, and porter 
of a bank. He lost his life in 1812, while en¬ 
deavoring to rescue a drowning man. 

At the age of ten, Andrew began work with 
a tailor by the name of Shelby, with whom he 
remained for about six years. While here he 
learned to read, at which he spent his leisure 
hours. When sixteen years old he got into 
trouble by throwing stones at an old woman’s 
house, which caused him to leave home. He 
found work at Laurens Court House, South Caro¬ 
lina, where he remained for two years, when he 
returned to Raleigh and apologized to Mr. Shelby 
for his strange disappearance and begged for 
work, but was refused because he could not give 
security for his future conduct. Whereupon he 


37° 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


took his mother and removed to Greenville, Ten¬ 
nessee, where he obtained employment for him¬ 
self at his trade of a tailor. 

Mr. Johnson was married at the age of twenty- 
one. His wife was an average scholar and 
taught him arithmetic and writing. Mr. Johnson 
was a man of strong opinions and was soon 
looked upon as a leader of his class in society. 
The natural inclination of his mind was toward 
politics. He organized the laboring men of his 
town into a party to act in opposition to the aris¬ 
tocratic elements of society, which mainly con¬ 
trolled the politics of that section. This associa¬ 
tion elected a city alderman for three successive 
years and afterwards mayor. Mr. Johnson took 
part in a debating club composed of the young 
men of the town and students that attended col¬ 
lege there. He took great interest in the adop¬ 
tion of the new constitution of the State of Ten¬ 
nessee, and in 1835 announced himself as a 
candidate for the Lower House of its Legislature, 
He made the race as a Democrat and though at 
first unfavorably received, was successful. In the 
Legislature he at once made himself conspicuous 
as an opponent to a system of internal improve¬ 
ment which consisted of roadmaking to the 
extent that it would involve the State* in a debt 
of four million dollars. The measure was carried 
but was productive of but little good. In 1839, 


ANDREW JOHNSON. 


37 1 


Mr. Johnson was re-elected to the same branch 
of the Legislature. In 1840, he took a prominent 
part in the Presidential canvass of his State, and 
was a candidate for elector for the State at large 
on the Van Buren electoral ticket. 

In 1841, he was elected to the State Senate 
into which he introduced bills providing for 
several improvements, at moderate expense, in 
the Eastern part of the State. 

In 1843, he took his seat in the Lower House 
of Congress, continuing in that position for ten 
years and acting mainly with the Democratic 
party. In 1848, he made an elaborate argument 
in favor of the veto power. 

In 1853, he was elected Governor of Tennes¬ 
see and re-elected in 1855. These campaigns 
were exceedingly bitter. He spoke several 
times with his revolver lying in front of him. 

He was elected to the United States Senate by 
the Tennessee Legislature, for a term of six 
years, and taking his seat in December, 1857, he 
labored earnestly for economy in the public ex¬ 
penditures; he opposed the construction of the 
Pacific Railroad at national expense and took up 
the Homestead Law for which he had worked 
while in the Lower House; It gave one hundred 
and sixty acres of land to actual settlers. He 
secured its passage only to be vetoed by Presi¬ 
dent Buchanan. 


372 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

Mr. Johnson possessed seven or eight slaves 
at the breaking out of the war which were con¬ 
fiscated by the Confederates because of his unfal¬ 
tering adherence to the Union. 

In i860, Mr. Johnson’s name was presented to 
the National Democratic Convention, by his state 
delegation, as a candidate for nomination for the 
Presidency. In the election that followed, when 
there were four Presidential candidates, he sup¬ 
ported Mr. Breckenridge, the nominee of the 
Southern wing of the Democratic party. 

In a speech made in the United States 
Senate, March, 1861, he said: “Were I the 
President of the United States, I would do as 
Thomas Jefferson did in 1806 with Aaron Burr. 
I would have them arrested and tried for treason; 
and, if convicted, by the Eternal God they 
should suffer the penalty of the law at the hands 
of the executioner! Sir, treason must be pun¬ 
ished. Its enormity and the extent and the 
depth of the offense must be made known.” 

On the 19th of June, 1861, at Cincinnati, he said: 
“I repeat, this odious doctrine of secession should 
be crushed out, destroyed and totally annihilated. 
No government can stand, no religious or moral 
or social organization can stand, where this doc¬ 
trine is tolerated. It is disintegration, universal 
dissolution. Therefore, I repeat, that this odious 
and abominable doctrine (you must pardon me 


ANDREW JOHNSON. 


373 


for using a strong expression, I do not say it in a 
profane sense), — but this doctrine I conceive to 
be hell-born and hell-bound, and one which will 
carry everything else in its train, unless it is ar¬ 
rested and crushed out from our midst.” 

Early in the year 1862, the Union arms ob¬ 
tained possession of the Central and Western 
portions of Tennessee. Mr. Johnson was ap¬ 
pointed Military Governor of that State by Pres¬ 
ident Lincoln. This was a judicious appoint¬ 
ment, he having been Governor of Tennessee 
twice before. Mr. Johnson’s position was now a 
perilous one. His headquarters were at Nash¬ 
ville which was in a state of siege, with doubtful 
results, during a portion of his term. He had 
trouble with some of the civil authorities, whom 
he was compelled to displace. He had trouble 
with decided Secessionists and hesitating Union¬ 
ists. He was joyous when slavery fell, but re¬ 
gretted the immense cost occasioned by the fall. 

In the autumn of 1863, Governor Johnson 
visited President Lincoln to consult with him 
concerning the re-establishment of the civil law 
in Tennessee. Mr. Johnson’s politics were of a 
practical kind. According to him all persons 
were Unionists or traitors. With him the salva¬ 
tion of the Union was the only political theme. 

Mr. Johnson, and thousands of other Demo¬ 
crats were willing to support President Lincoln 


374 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


for a second time. The Republican National 
Convention assembled at Baltimore in June, 
1864, and in deference to the friendly sentiment 
of many Democrats, nominated Mr. Johnson lor 
Vice-President. A large mass meeting assembled 
at Nashville to ratify the nominations of Lincoln 
and Johnson, upon which occasion Mr. Johnson 
said: “While society is in this disordered state, 
and we are seeking security, let us fix the foun¬ 
dations of the government on principles of eter¬ 
nal justice, which will endure for all time. There 
are those in our midst who are for perpetuating 
the institution of slavery. Let me say to you, 
Tennesseeans, and men from the Northern 
States, that slavery is dead. It was not murdered 
by me. I told you long ago what the result 
would be if you endeavored to go out of the 
Union to save slavery — that the result would be 
bloodshed, rapine, devastated fields, plundered 
villages and cities; and, therefore, I urged you to 
remain in the Union. In trying to save slavery, 
you killed it and lost your freedom. Your slav¬ 
ery is dead; but I did not murder it. As Macbeth 
said to Banquo’s bloody ghost,— 

‘Thou canst not say I did it; 

Never shake thy gory locks at me.’ 

“Slavery is dead, but you must pardon me if I 
do not mourn over its dead body. You can bury 


ANDREW JOHNSON. 


375 


it out of sight. In restoring the State, leave out 
that disturbing and dangerous element, and use 
only those parts of the machinery which will 
move in harmony.” , 

Lincoln and Johnson were elected in Novem¬ 
ber, 1864. They received 212 of the 233 elect¬ 
oral votes. Mr. Johnson was inaugurated Vice- 
President March 4th, 1865. 

Immediately after the death of President Lin¬ 
coln, the Cabinet, through the medium of Attor¬ 
ney General James Speed, notified Mr. Johnson 
of that sad event, and in accordance with the 
duties of Vice-President, he took the oath re¬ 
quired by the constitution and entered upon the 
discharge of the duties of the high office of Presi¬ 
dent, within less than three hours after Lincoln’s 
death. President Johnson retained the Cabinet 
of his illustrious predecessor, and upon the 29th 
of April removed the restrictions upon the com¬ 
mercial intercourse between the North and 
South. May 29th, 1865, he granted a general 
Amnesty to all who had been engaged in the late 
rebellion, except fourteen specified classes, upon 
condition of their taking an oath of allegiance to 
the United States. This was extended, July 4th, 
1868, to all whom were not under indictment for 
treason, and afterwards extended so as to include 
all. President Johnson believed that the seceded 
States should be restored to their former place in 


25 


37 6 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


the Union, when they should have repealed the 
Ordinances of Secession, repudiated their war 
debts and ratified the amendment that Congress 
had offered abolishing slavery. Congress be¬ 
lieved that other requirements should be de¬ 
manded, and passed over the President’s veto,.a 
Civil Rights Bill, and a bill extending the Freed¬ 
man’s Bureau. The Thirteenth Amendment, 
ratified by the requisite number of States, was 
declared to be a part of the constitution in 
December, 1865. Tennessee, having ratified the 
Fourteenth Amendment, was restored to her 
place in the Union. The other States having 
refused to do this were placed under Military 
Governors by an act of March 2nd, 1867. After bit¬ 
ter struggles governments were organized in har¬ 
mony with the wishes of Congress in the States 
of Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louis¬ 
iana, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and 
their representatives were admitted to Congress 
June 24th, 1868, after an absence of more than 
seven years. 

In 1867, occurred the purchase of Alaska from 
Russia. The terms were negotiated by Wrn. H. 
Seward, Secretary of State, and cost the United 
States $7,200,000 in gold. This territory em¬ 
braces an area of about 500,000 square miles. 

In 1868, an important treaty with China was 
obtained through the influence of Anson Bur^ 
lingame. 


ANDREW JOHNSON. 


377 


The increasing hostility between Congress and 
the President, came to a crisis, when Mr. John¬ 
son attempted the removal of Edwin M. Stanton, 
Secretary of War. This act was regarded as a 
violation of the “Tenure of Office Bill” and the 
impeachment of the President was ordered by 
the House of Representatives, and a long and 
tedious trial was begun before the United States 
Senate, March 13th, 1868, which culminated in 
an acquittal of the President May 26th, 1868. 

The Fourteenth Amendment was declared to 
be a part of the Constitution, July 28th, 1868. 
Mr. Johnson’s name was presented for nomina¬ 
tion to the Democratic National Convention in 
1868 and received 65 votes on the first ballot. 
Pie retired from the Presidency March 4th, 1869, 
to his home in Tennessee. 

He was elected United States Senator, Janu¬ 
ary, 1875, by the Democratic members of the 
Legislature of Tennessee. He served but one 
session, the one called by President Grant March 
4th, 1875, an d died July 31st, 1875. The grave 
of President Johnson is on a beautiful eminence 
one-half mile southwest of Greenville, Tennessee. 
His wife and two sons rest with him. A hand¬ 
some monument marks the spot. 


37 8 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Chapter XVIII. 


ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

/ScTfjl'To^ 

^l©F LYSSES Grant, eighteenth President 
of the United States, was born April 
27th, 1822. The history of the Grant 
family is veiled with great uncertainty. It is not 
positively known from whence they came, wheth¬ 
er from France, Scotland, or Denmark; most 
biographers say that they were Norman and 
came over with William the Conqueror in 1066. 
This family formed a powerful clan in the early 
days of the Scotch monarchy. Gregory Grant 
was Sheriff Principal of Iverness between 1214 
and ’49, and in 1333 John Grant commanded the 
right wing of the Scotch Army at Halidon 
Hill. 

Noah Grant, Jr., father of Jesse Root Grant 
and grandfather of the President, U. S. Grant, 
participated in the battle of Lexington as a lieu¬ 
tenant of militia and fought throughout the 
Revolutionary War. He, with others, located 
at Greensburg, on the Monongahela river in 
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where he 


ULYSSES S. GRANT. 


379 


married Rachel Kelly a widow, by whom he had 
seven children. The fourth of these children, 
Jesse Root Grant, named for the Chief Justice of 
Connecticut, was born January 23rd, 1794. 

Noah Grant with his family removed to Liver¬ 
pool, Columbiana county, Ohio, in April, 1799. 
After a short stay here he settled upon the 
u Western Reserve;” soon after Jesse’s mother 
died and they located near Deerfield, Portage 
county. From 1808 to 1810, Jesse lived with 
Judge Todd of Youngstown, Trumbull county, 
after which he returned to Deerfield where he 
remained two years learning the trade of a tan¬ 
ner. In 1812, Jesse was apprenticed for three 
years to a half-brother at Maysville, Kentucky, 
after which he returned to Deerfield, Ohio, and 
set up a small tanning business of his own. In 
1817, he went to Ravenna where he engaged in 
a successful business, but was compelled to quit 
the place on account of sickness; he went to 
Maysville, Kentucky, where he regained his 
health. He returned to Ohio, and settled at 
Point Pleasant, Clermont county, on the river, 
where he was married at the age of twenty- 
seven to Hannah Simpson on the 24th day of 
June, 1821. 

On the 27th day of April, 1822, their first 
child, Hiram Ulysses was born. Ten months 
after, the family moved to Georgetown a few 


3 So 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


miles back from the river; here, two sons and 
three daughters were added to their household. 
Ulysses was kept at school continuously from 
four until eleven years of age, where he displayed 
no special talent, but had a fondness for arith¬ 
metic. From his mother he inherited his mental 
worth; from his father came his coarser intellect¬ 
ual traits and physical abilities. He was early 
distinguished as a skillful rider and driver; at the 
age of twelve he did full work in hauling leather 
from his father’s tannery at Georgetown to Cin¬ 
cinnati, a distance of fifty miles. He disliked 
work with his hands; shunned the tannery but 
was passionately fond of teaming. When once 
asked, “why his horses never stalled,” he 
promptly responded, “because I never get stalled 
myself.” Here the evidences of the resolute, yet 
peaceful disposition and great presence of mind, 
together with the persistency that accompanied 
him through life is clearly unfolded to the reader. 

In 1839, age of seventeen he was ap¬ 

pointed a cadet at the West Point Military 
Academy. His name went on the books at 
West Point as Ulysses Simpson, on account of 
the member of Congress who made the applica¬ 
tion, knowing that one of the boys was named 
Simpson, and thinking it was he, made the mis¬ 
take which he never afterwards corrected. He 
took a preparatory course and passed a creditable 


ULYSSES S. GRANT. 381 

examination upon entering. He sustained a good 
record both in deportment and recitation; he ex¬ 
celled in mathematics and military genius but 
evinced no particular indication of his future 
greatness. He graduated in June, 1843, ranking 
21 in a class of 39. 

Upon leaving West Point Mr. Grant was bre- 
vetted Second Lieutenant in the Fourth Infantry 
then located at Jefferson Barracks, near St. 
Louis. While here Grant was at a loss for em¬ 
ployment, but soon found that the home of his 
classmate’s father, Colonel Frederick Dent, ten 
miles southwest of the city, possessed some 
attractions. He discovered in the personage of 
Miss Julia Dent, a suitable object upon which to 
bestow his affections. The place agreeable and 
she not indifferent to him, made it pleasant for 
Lieutenant Grant to spend much time with the 
Dents. 

In May, 1844, his regiment was ordered to the 
Red River to assist in the struggle with Mexico 
just coming on. Here it remained until June, 
1845, when it was quartered four miles below 
New Orleans near the old Jackson battle ground. 
In the following August it moved to Corpus 
Christi, Texas. In October, 1845, Grant was 
made regular Second Lieutenant. In March of 
the next year the force at Corpus Christi was 
ordered to the Rio Grande. He participated 


382 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


actively in the battle of Palo Alto, (high timber), 
May 8th, and Resaca de la Palma, (grove of 
palms), May 9th, and the entire force under Gen¬ 
eral Taylor crossed the Rio Grande taking pos¬ 
session of Matamoras, May 18th. September 
24th they assaulted Monterey. Here it was 
where Grant performed the tierce riding for 
ammunition through shot and shell. He and his 
regiments took part in the battles of Buena Vista 
and Puebla and led in the skirmishes of Contreras 
and San Antonio and in the battle of Cherubusco. 
At the battle of Molino del Rey he was promoted 
to a First Lieutenancy and at the storming of the 
castle of Chapultepec, September 13th, 1847, 
Grant’s conspicuous service caused him to be 
brevetted Captain. Upon the following morning 
General Scott’s triumphant and proud army 
moved upon the City of Mexico; it surrendered 
and the war was over with a cost to the United 
States of 25,000 men. When the army returned 
our gallant Captain visited Miss Dent, and his 
parents in Ohio. 

Captain U. S. Grant and Miss Julia Dent were 
married at the Dent residence in St. Louis, on 
the 22nd day of August, 1848. They lived at 
Sackett’s Harbor and Detroit until 1850 when 
Grant was ordered to Fort Dallas, Oregon, to 
protect the interests of the emigrants. While 
here, away from the influence of home and fra- 


ULYSSES S. GRANT. 


3^3 


ternal societies (Sons of Temperance and 
I. O. O. F., of which he was a member at Sack- 
ett’s Harbor) he became addicted to the use of 
intoxicants. Finally, resigning his commission 
he returned to near St. Louis and entered upon 
the cultivation of a small farm. The place he 
named “Hardscrabble” and life there proved to 
be a hard scrabble indeed. His wife was the 
owner of three or four slaves, but he was inex¬ 
perienced in the employment of their services to 
advantage and no profits resulted from them. 

January 1st, 1859, Captain Grant entered into 
partnership, in real estate business, with Harry 
Boggs, a man who had married a niece of the 
Dent family. He disposed of his farm and 
moved to the city. In less than a year the firm 
dissolved. He obtained employment in the Cus¬ 
tom House for one month. Nothing more in view 
the outlook for Captain Grant was rather dis¬ 
couraging. He took his family and went to his 
father; he obtained employment in the tanning 
establishment of his brothers, Simpson and 
Orvill, (whom their wealthy father had given a 
start in business at Galena, Illinois,) on a salar}^ 
of $600 per year. This proved to be insufficient 
to meet expenses; it was raised to $800, and he 
began to be more prosperous. The integrity and 
business qualifications of his brothers gave the 
firm a good reputation. 


3 8 4 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


April 12 th, 1861, the Confederates opened fire 
on Fort Sumpter. As the tidings reached the 
ears of Grant, he said: “Uncle Sam has educated 
me for the army; though I have served through 
one war, I do not feel that I have yet repaid the 
debt. I am still ready to discharge my obliga¬ 
tions, I shall therefore buckle on my sword and 
see Uncle Sam through this war too.” 

The call of President Lincoln for troops to 
defend the Nation’s Capital and aid in suppress¬ 
ing the Rebellion was made April 15th, 1861. 
Four days after that call U. S. Grant was drilling 
a company of volunteers at Galena, Illinois, with 
whom he went to Springfield the 23d of April. 
In May, Governor Gates offered him the Colonelcy 
of the 21 st Illinois Regiment, of which he took 
command early in June, and proceeded to Mis¬ 
souri, and reported to General Pope, by whom 
he was stationed at Mexico, about fifty miles north 
of the Missouri River. August 7th he was com¬ 
missioned by the President as Brigadier-General 
of Volunteers. August 8th he was transferred by 
Fremont, to Ironton, Missouri, and about a fort¬ 
night later to Jefferson City. Upon the 1st of 
September he took command of the district of 
Southeast Missouri by direction of Fremont, and 
September 4th, made his headquarters at Cairo, 
at the mouth of the Ohio. His first movement 
was to seize Paducah, at the mouth of the Tennes- 


ULYSSES S. GRANT. 


385 


see river, September 6th; and Smithland, at the 
mouth of the Cumberland, the 25th. On Novem¬ 
ber 7th, he made a vigorous attack on the Con¬ 
federate force at Belmont. He drove the Con¬ 
federates down to the river bank and burned 
their camp and stores, but, reinforcements having 
been sent by General Polk across the river, and 
the guns of Columbus brought to bear on the 
Union position, Grant was forced to retire. 

Grant gave strict orders to his men against 
destruction of private property. For the follow¬ 
ing two months he was employed in disciplining 
his troops, making no movement save a reconnois- 
sance toward Columbus in January, 1862. Prep¬ 
arations were now set on foot for an attack on 
Forts Henry and Donelson, which respectively 
commanded the Tennessee and Cumberland 
rivers near the line dividing Kentucky and 
Tennessee. With this object, Grant started 
from Paducah, February 3rd, with a force of 
15,000 men, to be aided by a fleet of gunboats 
under Commodore Foote. Fort Henry was cap¬ 
tured February 6th, its batteries having been 
silenced by the gunboats before the arrival of 
the land forces. The most of the Confederate’ 
troops escaped across the country to Fort Donel¬ 
son, twelve miles distant. General Grant trans¬ 
ported his forces over the same road, surrounded 
the fort, and February 14th, as soon as the 


3 86 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


gunboats had come down the river to co-operate 
with him, began the attack upon the Confederate 
works. The battle was severe and ended Febru¬ 
ary 16th, in the unconditional surrender of the 
fort and its garrison of 13,000 men under General 
Buckner. 

Grant was commissioned Major-General from 
the date of that victory, and immediately achieved 
national fame. This was the largest body of 
prisoners hitherto ever captured upon American 
soil. General Halleck, however, was prejudiced 
against him at this time and exerted his utmost 
endeavor to deprive Grant of the glory of the 
Donelson victory, giving the credit of it in his 
report to General C. F. Smith, Grant’s second in 
command. The government, however, had 
perception enough to understand the truth and 
give Grant his well-deserved promotion. Whether 
from irritation of this act of the Secretary of 
War, or other motives, is not known, but General 
Halleck began active preparations for an expe¬ 
dition into Tennessee, the command of which 
was given to General Smith, and General Grant, 
for alleged disregard of orders, was placed under 
arrest; after a few days he was freed from this 
restraint, and again joined his command, with 
headquarters at Savanna, Tennessee. General 
Smith had camped with his troops where the 
battle of Shiloh was afterwards fought. Near 


ULYSSES S. GRANT. 


387 


Pittsburg Landing, on the Tennessee river, some 
miles above Savanna. There General Smith 
was taken ill with a sickness from which he never 
recovered, and General Grant was given the en¬ 
tire command. At day break of April 6th, the 
camp at Pittsburg Landing was attacked by a 
large force under General A. S. Johnson and 
driven back with heavy loss. General Grant 
speedily arrived on the held of battle and re¬ 
formed the lines. Re-inforcements under General 
Buell came up in the night. The battle was renew¬ 
ed the next day. The Confederates were defeated 
and forced to retreat to Corinth. General Grant 
was slightly wounded in this battle. It was one 
of the most hotly contested fights of the war and 
the losses on both sides were terrible. False re¬ 
ports concerning Grant’s conduct in this battle 
were circulated and for a time the great General 
— whose military genius had not yet been fully 
shown — was under a cloud. Halleck joined the 
army a few days after and took personal super¬ 
vision of the siege of Corinth. During the fight 
in that locality, during the next two months 
Grant was left in camp, though still retaining 
nominal command of the district of West Tennes¬ 
see. In June he transferred his headquarters to 
Memphis. July 1 ith, Halleck was summoned to 
Washington to supersede McClellan, and Grant 
succeeded him in command, and moved his head- 


3 88 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


quarters to Corinth. On the 17th of September 
he ordered an advance against the Confederate 
General Price, then stationed with a large force 
at Iuka. There a battle was fought, September 
19th, and a complete victory gained by General 
Rosecrans. As Bragg’s force was now pushing 
towards the Ohio river, Grant moved his 
headquarters to Jackson. • Generals Price and 
Vandorn attacked the Union camp at Corinth 
under Rosecrans, and after a desperate fight 
October 3rd and 4th, were repulsed with heavy 
loss and pursued beyond the Hatchie river. 
Though not present in person at either of these 
battles Grant directed the movements of them 
both by telegraph. Buell had moved eastward 
to intercept Bragg and met and defeated him at 
Perryville, October 8th, driving him back into 
East Tennessee. October 16th, General Grant’s 
department was extended by the addition of a 
part of Mississippi as far south as Vicksburg and 
he at once began to plan a movement against 
that city. November 1st, he began a movement 
towards the river and seized LaGrange and Grand 
Junction November 4th; on November 13th, the 
cavalry took possession of Flolly Springs driving 
the enemy south of the Tallahatchie river, and 
Grant followed taking possession of that point 
November 29th, and December 5th he entered 
Oxford. While he was at this point Van Dorn’s 


ULYSSES S. GRANT. 


3^ 

Cavalry made a dash at the camp of stores in his 
rear at Holly Springs, took 1,500 prisoners and 
destroyed ordnance and supplies amounting to 
nearly $1,000,000. The army was now moved 
back to LaGrange, but headquarters were trans¬ 
ferred no further than Holly Springs. January 
10th, 1863, the entire force was removed to 
Memphis, Grant having resolved to re-organize 
his entire army for a campaign against Vicksburg, 
to co-operate in which, forces of Generals Sher¬ 
man and McClernand were now coming down 
the Mississippi. January 30th, Grant assumed 
immediate command of the expedition against 
Vicksburg. Much time was lost at first, in the 
attempt to cut a canal through the peninsula in 
front of Vicksburg, which had been suggested by 
President Lincoln, but after an immense expendi¬ 
ture of labor was found to be impracticable. An 
effort was also made to cut through the Yazoo 
pass so as to hem in the enemy. These attempts 
were found to result only in failure, and Grant 
concluded to carry out his own plans, that of 
moving the army down the west bank of the 
river, and cross to the east side below the city. 
April 30th, 1863, he crossed the river, took Port 
Gibson and Grand Gulf, and began his march 
into the interior defeating the enemy in the 
actions of Raymond, Champion’s Hill, Jackson 
and Big Black, and keeping Joseph E. Johnston 


39° 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


from joining his forces with those of Pemberton 
at Vicksburg. May 19th, Grant made the first of 
three unsuccessful assaults on the city ofVicks- 
burg and afterwards began a siege of 46 days. 
After much hard fighting Vicksburg was forced 
to surrender with nearly 30,000 prisoners, July 
4th, 1863. 

Grant was immediately made a Major-Gen¬ 
eral of the Regular Army. He remained at 
Vicksburg until August 30th, when he made a 
visit to New Orleans. While there he was 
thrown from his horse at a review and so much 
injured that he was unable to return to his post 
until September 16th. October 10th, under in¬ 
structions from Washington he came northward, 
meeting Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War, at In¬ 
dianapolis. That official notified him that all the 
military departments of the West were to be 
under his personal supervision with the exceptions 
of the department of the Gulf. At Louisville 
word was received by Mr. Stanton that Rose- 
crans, whose campaign in Eastern Tennessee had 
been so disastrous, was now about to abandon 
Chattanooga. Grant, therefore, with the full 
sanction of his superior immediately relieved 
Rosecrans of his command, assigning General 
Thomas to his position, and October 19th started 
by rail to Chattanooga to take personal direction 
of the operations there. The army here was 


ULYSSES S. GRANT. 


3 9 1 

nearly surrounded by Confederate forces, and 
greatly weakened by sickness and losses, but 
Grant’s presence put new hope into their droop¬ 
ing hearts. He concentrated troops from 
other points, attacked Bragg’s army strongly in¬ 
trenched on Lookout Mountain and Missionary 
Ridge, and carried both points by assault Novem¬ 
ber 24th and 25th. 

President Lincoln sent the following: “Major- 
General Grant:—Understanding that your lodg¬ 
ment at Knoxville and Chattanooga is now 
secure, I wish to tender you and all your com¬ 
mand, my more than thanks — my profound 
gratitude for the skill, courage and perseverance, 
with which you and they, over so many great 
difficulties, effected that important object. God 
bless you all. A. Lincoln.” 

An Indian Chieftain who was on General 
Grant’s staff, at Chattanooga, said of him: “It 
has been a matter of universal wonder that Gen¬ 
eral Grant has not been killed, for he was always 
in front and perfectly heedless of the storm of 
hissing bullets and screaming shells flying around 
him. Roads are almost useless to him, for he 
takes short cuts through the fields and woods and 
will swim his horse through almost any stream, 
that obstructs his way, nor does it make any 
'difference to him whether he has daylight for his 
movements, for he will ride from breakfast until 


26 


392 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

two o’clock the next morning, and that without eat¬ 
ing. The next day he will repeat the same until 
he has finished his work.” 

Bragg’s forces were now driven back to Dalton, 
Georgia. Sherman being sent to the relief of 
Burnside, who was being besieged at Knoxville 
by General Longstreet, drove back the Confed¬ 
erates from that point. By these successes the 
Confederate communication between the Atlantic 
and the Mississippi river was forever broken. 

December 7th, President Lincoln ordered a 
thanksgiving in all the churches for the victories 
won for the Union cause. 

December 17th, Congress passed a resolution 
ordering that a gold medal be struck for General 
Grant, and returned thanks to him and his army. 
About Christmas, Grant went in person, to inspect 
the command at Knoxville, and January 13th, 
1864, he went, by way of Cumberland Gap, to 
Nashville, where he placed his headquarters. 
January 24th, he went to St. Louis to visit his 
eldest son, who was very ill. February 5th, he 
was back at Nashville. 

March 1st, President Lincoln signed a bill, 
passed by Congress, reviving the grade of Lieu¬ 
tenant General of the Army, and immediately 
nominated General Grant for the position. March 
3rd, the General received the order summoning 
him to Washington, He reached that city March 


ULYSSES S. GRANT. 


393 


the 9th, receiving his commission at the hands 
of the President, and March 17th, issued his first 
general order, dated at Nashville, assuming com¬ 
mand of the armies of the United States, and 
announcing that his headquarters would be in 
the field, and until further orders with the army 
ot the Potomac. March 23rd, he arrived at 
Washington again and immediately began the 
preparation for his grand campaign that was to 
terminate the war. At midnight, May 3rd, Grant 
began the movement against Richmond, crossing 
the Rapidan with the Army of the Potomac. Plis 
forces now numbered about 140,000 men. His 
first battle was that of the Wilderness, fought 
May 5th, 6th and 7th. The losses were terrible 
on both sides, but the results were indecisive. 
Lee retired within his intrenchments, and Grant 
made a flank movement on the left in the direction 
of Spottsylvania Court House. Here followed, 
from the morning of May 9th to the night of May 
12th, one of the bloodiest struggles of the war, 
in which the Union forces gained some ground, 
and captured one division, but made no impres¬ 
sion on the defenses of the enemy. Grant now 
made another movement to the left, crossed the 
Pamunkey, and brought his army before the 
almost impregnable rifle-pits of Cold Harbor. 
These he attacked, June 1st, but was repulsed 
with terrible loss. The assault was renewed 


394 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


June 3rd, with even a more frightful loss of life and 
the gaining of but little advantage. Grant’s 
losses in the campaign from the Rapidan to the 
James, (May , 3rd to June 15th,) aggregated a 
total of 54,557, that of General Lee was 
about 32,000. June 15th, General Grant joined 
General Butler’s army at Bermuda Hundred, and 
the combined force moved against Petersburg. 
On June 17th and 18th, assaults were made upon 
the Confederate intrenchments, but almost with¬ 
out effect. Lee’s army retired behind the 
defenses, and by the latter part of June, Peters¬ 
burg was regularly besieged. 

Previous to this Grant had ordered flanking 
movements under Generals Sigel and McCook 
which had failed. In the hope of drawing Grant 
from his position Lee had sent a force under 
General Early to invade Maryland and Pennsyl¬ 
vania. That invasion caused so much alarm, 
that in August, General Sheridan was sent against 
it, and in a series of fights closing October 19th, 
at Cedar Creek completely defeated Early and laid 
waste to the entire Shenandoah Valley. During 
the summer, fall and winter Grant pressed the 
siege of Petersburg with varying success. July 
30th, a mine was exploded under one of the forts 
and an assault was made only to be repulsed with 
heavy loss. August 18th, a division of Grant’s 
army seized a portion of the Weldon railroad 


ULYSSES S. GRANT. 


395 


and held it against several fierce assaults of the 
Confederates, in which both armies lost thousands 
of men. After a hard fought battle on the road 
south of Petersburg the armies went into winter 
quarters and suspended active operations until 
spring. 

February 27th, 1865, Sheridan’s army again 
assaulted and defeated General Early’s army at 
Waynesboro and then joined his commander-in- 
chief with his army. The battles of Hatcher’s 
Run and Five Forks were fought from March 
29th to April 1st, resulting in the defeat of the 
Confederates and the capture of 6,000 prisoners. 
On the following day Grant ordered a general 
assault on the lines of Petersburg and the works 
were carried. On that night the army of Lee 
evacuated Petersburg, and the members of the 
Confederate government also lied from Rich¬ 
mond, and April 3rd, that city as well as Peters¬ 
burg was taken possession of by the Union army. 
The war lasted but a few days longer. Lee re¬ 
treated as rapidly as he could to the southwest, 
there hoping to join the army of Johnston. Grant 
and Sheridan pursued and intercepted him, and 
after making one or two ineffectual efforts to 
rally his broken and demoralized army, against 
the victorious forces of the Federals, on April 
9th, 1865, General Lee surrendered to Grant. 
The terms of this surrender were most liberal 


39 6 AMERICAN rr^sideNtS. 

and the Confederate soldiers were granted many 
privileges seldom accorded to prisoners of war. 
This leniency on the part of General Grant, 
showed his humane disposition and has done 
much to effect a reunion of the States and estab¬ 
lish harmony between the North and South. 

August 12th, 1867, General Grant was ap¬ 
pointed Secretary of War by President Johnson. 

As a result of the great record acquired during 
the war, General Grant was nominated for Pres¬ 
ident by the National Republican Convention at 
Chicago, May 21st, 1868, with Schuyler Colfax 
of Indiana, for Vice-President. The Democratic 
candidates were Horatio Seymour of New York, 
and General Frank P. Blair of Missouri. Vir¬ 
ginia, Mississippi, and Texas were not allowed to 
participate in the election as they had not com¬ 
plied with the reconstruction requirements of the 
Federal Government. Grant and Colfax were 
elected. Electoral vote stood as follows: Grant 
and Colfax, 214; Seymour and Blair, 80. Popu¬ 
lar vote: for Grant 3,016,353, for Seymour 
2,906,631; Grant’s majority 109,722. Grant and 
Colfax were inaugurated March 4th, 1869. 

The year 1869 is famous as being the one in 
which the Pacific railroad was completed, thus 
making it possible for travellers to go from New 
York City to San Francisco, a distance of nearly 
3,400 miles, in less than a week. This great 
railway has done much to develop the West. 


ULYSSES S. GRANT* 


397 


The Fifteenth Amendment, which secures to 
all the right of suffrage irrespective of “race, color, 
or previous condition of servitude,” having been 
ratified by the requisite three-fourths of the States 
was declared by the Secretary of State to be a 
part of the constitution March 30th, 1870. 

The country rapidly recovered from the effects 
of the Civil War. During the first two years of 
Grant’s administration the national debt was re¬ 
duced $204,000,000. A general amnesty was 
granted to all concerned with the late war. The 
ninth census of the United States, made in 1870 
showed her population to be over 38,000,000, an 
increase of about 7,000,000 during the previous 
decade. 

The great Chicago Fire broke out on the night 
of the 8th of October, 1871. It raged for two 
days and extended over 3,000 acres, consum¬ 
ing 25,000 buildings and property valued at 
$200,000,000, and leaving 100,000 people home¬ 
less. The world responded liberally to their 
wants by donating $7,500,000. During the same 
fall devastating fires raged through the forests of 
Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. Many 
villages were destroyed. In Wisconsin alone 
over 1,500 persons perished. Another destruc¬ 
tive fire occurred in Boston November 9th, 1872, 
which extended over 60 acres of the wholesale 
business part of the city, doing injuries to the 
amount of $70,000,000. 


39 8 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


The English Government failing to make 
reparation for the injuries done our commerce by 
the Confederate cruisers, Alabama and others, 
led to the negotiation of the Treaty of Washing¬ 
ton. It was agreed that the claim for damages 
should be left to a commission composed of 
representatives from the governments of the 
United States, Great Britain, Switzerland, Italy 
and Brazil, who met at Geneva, Switzerland, and 
allowed the United States $,i5,500,000 in gold. 
The difficulty over the Northwestern boundary 
of the United States was left for settlement to 
the Emperor of Germany, who decided in favor 
of the United States. 

The Republic of San Domingo, upon the island 
of Hayti, applied for admission into the Union; a 
commission of eminent men was appointed by 
President Grant, who was a warm friend of the 
project, to visit the island and inquire into its 
condition. Their report favored annexation, but 
was rejected by Congress. 

In 1868, Cuba endeavored to free herself from 
Spain. Many persons of this country had great 
sympathy for the movement. Despite the vigi¬ 
lance of the authorities “The Virginius,” loaded 
with men and supplies started thither. While 
yet upon the high sea “The Virginius” was cap¬ 
tured by a Spanish ship and taken to the port 
of Santiago. Regardless of the protests of the 


ULYSSES S. GRANT. 


399 


American Consul many of her crew were shot. 
Upon demand of President Grant,“The Virginius” 
was given up and satisfactory apologies made. 

President Grant was nominated for re-election, 
by the National Republican Convention, at Phil¬ 
adelphia, June 5th, 1872, along with Henry 
Wilson, of Massachusetts, for Vice-President. 
The Liberal Republicans, and afterwards the 
Democrats, nominated Horace Greeley, of New 
York, and B. Gratz Brown, of Missouri. Grant’s 
popular vote was 3,597,070, Greeley’s, 2,834,079. 
Mr. Greeley died shortly after the election, and 
his electoral votes were given to Thomas A. 
Hendricks and others. Two other tickets had 
been nominated. The “Straight Out” Democrats, 
which bore the names of Charles O’Connor, of 
New York, and George W. Julian, of Indiana, 
and The Temperance Party, James Black, of 
Pennsylvania, and John Russell, of Michigan. The 
former received a popular vote of 29,408, and 
the latter, 5,608. 

The Modoc Indians refused to go upon their 
reservation in Oregon; troops were sent against 
them. While in the midst of a conference General 
Canby and Rev. Dr. Thomas were killed and 
Mr. Meachem, wounded. The Modocs were 
compelled to surrender, and Captain Jack with 
several of their leaders was executed at Fort 
Klamath, October 3d, 1873. 


400 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


In 1873, Jay Cooke & Co., bankers, of Phila¬ 
delphia, met with a commercial failure. Hundreds 
of firms all over the country became involved 
and shared a like fate. These failures caused a 
general stagnation in business and a great stress 
upon the money market. 

As the first century of our national life grew 
to a close, many centennials were held. Among 
which was that of the battles of Lexington and 
Concord, April 19th, 1875, an d °f the Declara¬ 

tion of Independence, made at Charlotte, North 
Carolina, May 20th, 1875, an d the L> a ttle of Bunker 
Hill, June 17th, 1875. The signingofthe Declara¬ 
tion oflndependence was celebrated by an exposi¬ 
tion at Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, which lasted 
about six months, opening upon the 10th of 
May, 1876. The average daily attendance was 
about 61,000 persons. 

The Sioux Indians refused to go upon a reser¬ 
vation allotted to them by treaty, and committed 
many atrocities. Generals Custer and Terry 
were sent against them. On the 25th of June, 

1876, General Custer fell in with the Indians, and 
with all his men, was massacred. The Indians 
were soon dispersed. 

Grant retired from the Presidency March 5th, 

1877. On May 17th, 1877, President Grant 
started on his tour around the world. He had 
anticipated a quiet journey; but from the time of 


ULYSSES S. GRANT. 


40I 


his arrival in Europe to after his return to 
America his trip was one increasing ovation. 
England, France, Russia, Turkey, Germany, 
Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Italy, India, and 
China, gave him great receptions, and greeted 
him with unheard of enthusiasm. The receptions 
and honors paid to President Grant were national 
affairs, and spoke volumes in favor of him as a 
man and the United States of America as a 
nation. He arrived in SanFrancisco, September 
20th, 1879. He mac le tours to Mexico in 1880 
and 1881. 

In 1880, his name was presented to the Na¬ 
tional Republican Convention for President, for 
the third term, but was defeated by that ofjames 
A. Garfield. 

In 1882, President Grant located in New York 
City, engaging in various enterprises. In May, 
1884, he met with a disastrous failure. To his 
partner, Ferdinand Ward, now in prison for per¬ 
petrating dishonest schemes- and involving the 
firm in enormous liabilities, all blame for this 
great failure is attached. 

March 3rd, 1885, General Grant was placed 
upon the retired list of the United States army 
with full honors and pay. During the latter part 
of 1884 he contracted the malady which ter¬ 
minated in his death. The best of medical aid 
attended him but nothing could stay the onward 


402 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS* 


progress of this fatal disease. An affection of 
the throat and tongue formed a coalition power¬ 
ful enough to conquer the heretofore invincible 
“hero of many battles/’ and he surrendered his 
honored position to the “Great Commander” of 
the Universe, at 8:08 A. M., July 23rd, 1885. 

In June previous to his death, he had been re¬ 
moved to Mount McGregor, Saratoga county,New 
York. His relatives, friends, and an anxious nation 
feared the end. They exercised all within the 
reach of human power and skill to lengthen his 
existence. He also had a mission yet to fulfill. 
His “Memoirs” were still incomplete. The 
mountain air revived and invigorated his wasted 
energies for a time. He finished them, and ex¬ 
pressed his readiness to die. They are received 
by the world as the crowning effort of his life 
and eagerly sought by thousands. This rehearsal 
in book form of the thrilling history of the mag¬ 
nificent battles he fought for the sake of the 
Union, while battling with the grim-monster, 
Death, will keep patriotism burning through 
coming generations. 

Dr. Newman said of him: 

“Our greatest, yet with least pretense, 
Great in council and great in war, 
Foremost captain of his time. 

Rich in saving common sense, 

And, as the greatest always are, 

In his simplicity sublime.” 


ULYSSES S. GRANT. 


4°3 


The entire nation honored the dead Hero. 
President Cleveland sent words of condolence 
and issued a proclamation to the United States 
requesting a general suspension of all business at 
the time of his burial and that all join in the 
nation’s funeral of this great man. Emblems of 
national sorrow and universal grief were dis¬ 
played from the Atlantic to the Pacific and 
throughout the North and South. The king¬ 
doms, empires and republics of the united world 
recognized the event. Many expressions of 
sorrow were sent to the bereaved family and 
nation. 

Bishop Fallows describes the noble tribute of 
the nation when he said: “With imposing pag¬ 
eantry, with mournful tread, with muffled drum, 
with solemn dirge, with booming cannon, amid 
tears and prayers, and burning words of eulogy, 
our Nation to-day, in city, in village, and in ham¬ 
let, is paying its grateful and sacred homage to 
its most distinguished dead.” 

The mortal remains of General U. S. Grant 
were interred on the afternoon of August the 8th 
at Riverside Park, New York City, amid the 
imposing ceremonies of vast civic and military 
displays viewed by many hundreds of thousands. 

The calling together of Generals Sherman, 
Johnston, Sheridan, and Buckner, to assist in 
bearing his remains to rest, extended the olive 
branch of peace to a once distracted people. 


404 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

James G. Blaine said of General Grant: “His 
military supremacy was honestly earned, without 
factious praise and without extraneous help. He 
had no influence to urge his promotion except 
such as was attracted by his own achievements, 
lie arose more rapidly than any military leader in 
history, from the command of a single regiment 
to the supreme direction of a million of men, 
divided into many great armies, and operating an 
area as large as the empires of Germany and 
Austria combined.” 

Grant’s life, like that of Lincoln’s, is wonder¬ 
ful. It burst suddenly upon the world. Its 
mistakes have been fast sinking out of sight, until 
now they are buried. The Old Hero and Chief¬ 
tain, twice ruler of the greatest nation of earth, 
and honored by the world, has gone to rest. 
Naught remains, but a universal desire to emulate 
his glory and greatness and his works and worth 
rise into full vieAV, and his life becomes a wonder¬ 
ful chapter in the history of the Republic. 


RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 


4°5 


Chapter XIX. 


RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 



’UTHERFORD BlRCHARD HAYES, nine¬ 
teenth President of the United States, 
was born at Delaware, Ohio, October 


4th, 1822. The Hayes family can be traced 
back through the Scotch nobility to the year 
1280. They fought with Robert Bruce and Sir 
William Wallace in their wars against England. 
This family emigrated to New England during 
the seventeenth century. The father of the 
President was Rutherford Hayes, at one time a 
very successful business man of Brattlesboro, 
Vermont. In 1817, he removed with his family 
to what was then the wilderness of Ohio. The 
mother of the President was Sophia Birchard, a 
Vermont woman by birth who had imbibed 
much of the Puritan ideas of that section. Both 
of her grandfathers were soldiers of the Revolu¬ 
tion. 

Young Hayes received the full advantage of 
the common schools. At the age of sixteen, in 
1838, he entered Kenyon College, from which 


406 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

he graduated in 1842. Selecting the law as his 
profession he entered the office of Thomas Spar¬ 
row of Columbus. He soon decided to take his 
course of study at Harvard University. There 
he went and under the preceptorship of Judge 
Story and Professor Greenleaf, he completed his 
law studies in two years. He obtained admit¬ 
tance to the bar in March, 1845, and began his 
professional work at Lower Sandusky, now Fre¬ 
mont, Sandusky county, Ohio. At this place he 
remained until 1850, when, desiring a broader 
field for work he removed to Cincinnati. Here 
his rise in the law was both rapid and steady. 
Mr. Hayes was a Whig and hostile to slavery. 
These propensities very naturally led him to 
unite with the newly formed Republican party, 
and become an enthusiastic supporter of General 
Scott in 1852, Fremont in 1856, and Lincoln in 
i860. 

In 1856, Mr. Hayes was an unsuccessful can¬ 
didate for the office of Judge of the Common 
Pleas Court. In 1859, the Council of Cincinnati 
selected him to fill an unexpired term of the 
office of City Solicitor. This was a proper recog¬ 
nition of his professional ability and was endorsed 
by the people that elected him to the same office 
in the spring of i860. In 1861, when a candidate 
for re-election, he shared the fate of the entire 
Republican city ticket and was defeated. 


RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 407 

Mr. Lincoln’s accession to the Presidency was 
the signal of secession by the Southern States. 
Mr. Hayes offered his services to the Union 
cause and was commissioned by Governor Den¬ 
nison Major of the Twenty-third Regiment of 
Ohio Volunteers, upon the 7th of June, 1861. 
This regiment soon after went into duty in West 
Virginia. Mr. Hayes was appointed by General 
Rosecrans as Judge Advocate of the department 
ot the Ohio, which position he retained for two 
months when he was promoted to the rank of 
Lieutenant-Colonel of his regiment. In this 
capacity he acted throughout the campaigns of 
West Virginia in the early portion of 1862, and 
then with McClellan in Maryland. At South 
Mountain, September 14th of the same year he 
received a severe wound. He was appointed 
Colonel of the 79th Ohio but the injuries he had 
sustained prevented him from taking immediate 
command. Soon after he received the commis¬ 
sion as Colonel of his own regiment and with it 
continued to act for some time. 

In the spring of 1864, Colonel Hayes was 
given the command of a brigade of General 
Crook’s army and was sent into the South to 
assist in cutting communications between differ¬ 
ent sections of the Confederacy. In the battle of 
Cloyd Mountain he won an important triumph. 
In September, 1864, his command was extended 


27 


408 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


to the control of the entire Kanawha division. 
For distinguished services he was made Brigadier 
General and afterwards brevetted Major-General. 
Mr. Hayes’ services were co-extensive with the 
entire period of the war, being one of the first to 
enlist as a volunteer and among the last to retire 
from the field. His fortunes of battle were many 
narrow escapes. He had three horses shot Irom 
under him and was four times wounded. 

The long and illustrious war record of General 
Hayes made him an available candidate for repre¬ 
sentative in Congress. He received the nomina¬ 
tion of his party in the Cincinnati district and 
was elected in October, 1864, and took his seat 
in the Thirty-ninth Congress upon the 4th of 
December, 1865. In the following year his con¬ 
stituency re-elected him. In 1867, General 
Hayes was the Republican candidate for gov¬ 
ernor of Ohio and was elected over Allen G. 
Thurman, the candidate of the Democracy, by 
the small majority of three thousand. The popu¬ 
larity of General Hayes must be conceded when 
we consider that upon that day both branches of 
the Legislature were carried by his opponents. 
Mr. Hayes resigned his seat in Congress and was 
inaugurated governor on the 13th of January, 
1868. The success of his administration led to 
his re-election in 1869 by two and one-half times 
his former majority. His party opponent was 


RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 


4°9 

Hon. George H. Pendleton. At the close of his 
second term Governor Hayes returned to Cin¬ 
cinnati and re-entered the profession of law. In 
1872, he was again a candidate for Congress 
but was defeated by a combination of the Liber¬ 
als and Democrats. He was tendered the office 
ot Assistant United States Treasurer at Cincin¬ 
nati, but his desires for retirement led him to de¬ 
cline the honor. 

In 1875, an overwhelming solicitation upon the 
part of his party friends led him to again accept 
with reluctancy the nomination for governor. 
The contest with Governor William Allen as the 
Democratic candidate that followed was one of 
great interest. Mr. Hayes made hard money 
speeches and declared himself in favor of the 
resumption of specie payment. These were 
dangerous assertions for a politician at that time. 
The success of this canvass brought Mr. Hayes 
before the country as an available candidate of 
the Republicans in the approaching national con¬ 
test. He was inaugurated governor of Ohio for 
the third time in January, 1876. This position 
he resigned at the end of one year preparatory 
to assuming the duties of President. 

The Ohio Republicans met in State Conven¬ 
tion in March, 1876, and recommended the name 
of Governor Hayes to their National Convention, 
as a candidate for the Presidential nomination. 


410 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


The Republican National Convention of this year 
met at Cincinnati, the 14th of June. The prom¬ 
inent names before it were James G. Blaine, ot 
Maine; Roscoe Conkling, of New York; Benja¬ 
min F. Bristow, of Kentucky; and Oliver P. 
Morton, of Indiana. Mr. Blaine was the leading 
candidate upon the first six ballots. The oppo¬ 
sition united upon Governor Playes, and secured 
his nomination upon the seventh ballot. The 
decisive vote stood for Hayes, 384, Blaine, 351, 
and Bristow, 21. William A. Wheeler, of New 
York, was made the nominee for Vice-President. 
The Democratic candidates were Samuel J.Tilden, 
of New York, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of 
Indiana. The Independent Greenback nominees 
were Peter Cooper, of New York, and Samuel 
F. Cary, of Ohio. The struggle between the 
two leading parties was one of the bitterest in 
the history of our national politics. Tilden and 
Hendricks received more than 250,000 majority 
of the popular vote over Hayes and Wheeler. 
The electoral vote was so close and irregular in 
the four states of South Carolina, Florida, Louis¬ 
iana, and Oregon, that it was difficult to know 
just who had been elected. Both parties claimed 
a victory. Upon the meeting of Congress it was 
agreed to refer the electoral votes of these dis¬ 
puted states to a High Joint Electoral Commission, 
to be composed of five members of the Senate, 


RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 


4 11 

five members of the House of Representatives, 
and five of the Judges of the Supreme Court. 
This tribunal, by a strictly partisan decision of 
eight to seven, gave the twenty disputed electoral 
votes to Ilayes and Wheeler. The vote stood 
185 for Hayes and Wheeler, and 184 for Tilden 
and Hendricks. Mr. Tilden and a majority of 
the people of the United States have never con¬ 
ceded the justness of this decision. Notwith¬ 
standing the verdict of a nation as being adverse 
to this decision, all had agreed to abide by it, and 
now all quietly submitted to this seating of 
Hayes, as President, and he was accordingly in¬ 
augurated President upon the 5th ofMarch, 1877. 

The policy pursued by Mr. Hayes was concil¬ 
iatory toward the South. He immediately ordered 
the withdrawal of the national troops from 
Louisiana and South Carolina. These troops 
alone had been the sustaining element of the 
Republicans in the management of the local af¬ 
fairs of these states, and consequently upon their 
withdrawal, Democratic officials who were sup¬ 
ported by a majority of the citizens of the state 
assumed the control of affairs. 

The summer of 1877, is memorable as a time 
of extensive railroad strikes. These were first 
inaugurated by the employes of the Baltimore & 
Ohio Company, but grew to include most of the 
workmen of the North. Riots of greater or less 


412 


AMERICAN PRESIDENT'S* 


violence occurred in Pittsburg and Baltimore; Hor- 
nellsville, New York; Reading, Pennsylvania; and 
Louisville and Chicago. The militia, assisted by 
the citizens, and in some instances by regular 
troops, succeeded in restoring quiet. Over one 
hundred lives were lost and millions of property 
destroyed. The loss of the Pennsylvania Rail¬ 
road alone was estimated to exceed $3,000,000. 

In 1873, Congress had demonetized silver and 
made gold the exclusive standard of our currency. 
Upon the 21st ofFebruary, 1878, Congress passed 
a bill providing for the remonetization of silver. 

In 1878, the yellow fever broke out in the 
states of the South, bordering upon the Mississippi 
River. Originating in New Orleans and spread¬ 
ing rapidly to the North, it continued its ravages 
until 20,000 cases and 7,000 deaths were re¬ 
ported. 

Upon the 1st of January, 1879, ' m accordance 
with a law passed a few years previous, our 
banks resumed specie payment, gold and silver 
rapidly came into general circulation. Upon the 
17th of December, 1879, gold sold in New York 
at par, for the first time in the United States for 
seventeen years. 

In 1877, the Ute Indians grew dissatisfied with 
the intrusions of the miners and the failure of the 
agents to pay them the money promised by the 
government, took up arms and began massacre- 


RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 413 

ing the whites at the agency. Major Thornburgh, 
at the head of a small force, was marching against 
them, when they were captured and massacred. 
Other United States troops were at once hurried 
to the scene of the trouble and soon subdued the 
warriors. 

The tenth census of the United States, taken 
in 1880, showed an increase during the previous 
decade of more than 10,000,000, and the entire 
population of the nation to exceed 50,000,000. 
The national debt during President Hayes’ ad¬ 
ministration was reduced $209,000,000. 

In 1878, trouble having arisen between Great 
Britain and our government concerning the fish¬ 
eries of our Northeast boundary, an agreement 
was effected to submit the matter to a board of 
adjudication. This board met at Halifax and 
allowed Great Britain the sum of $5,500,000 in 
settlement for her claims. 

In 1880, two treaties were made at Pekin, 
China; one concerning commerce, and the other 
giving to the United States the right of regulating 
Chinese emigration to this country. 

Mr. Hayes had declared in his letter of ac¬ 
ceptance that he would not again be a candidate 
for the Presidency, and therefore was not a can¬ 
didate for a second term. He retired from the 
White House at the expiration of his term, 
March 4th, 1881, and took up his residence at 


414 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

Fremont, Ohio, where he has since lived in re¬ 
tirement and quietude. 

Mr. Hayes was married December 20th, 1852, 
to Miss Lucy Webb, of Delaware, Ohio. They 
have had eight children, the majority of whom 
still live to gladden the home circle. Mrs. Hayes 
is of excellent parentage; finely educated and 
possessed of many noble attributes that have done 
much to make the life and career of the ex-Pres- 
ident a uniformly successful one in all the high 
positions of life he has occupied. When she 
began the duties of mistress of the White House 
she resolved on an example of total abstinence, 
and excluded the use of wines, a custom which 
hitherto had been prevalent at receptions and 
dinners, given at the Executive Mansion. Her 
gentle traits will give serenity and happiness to 
old age. Mr. Hayes is another great man that 
was brought up by the sole care of a solicitous 
mother from obscurity, and who filled the highest 
place upon earth with credit to himself and 
honor to his country and fellow-men. 


JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 


415 


Chapter XX. 


JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD, 


&yJVrange Township, Cuyahoga county, 
^NM!p?Ohio, is the birth-place of the twentieth 
President of the United States. James 
A. Garfield sprang from a noble ancestry. He 
was of English, French, German and Welsh 
blood. His ancestor, Edward Garfield, emigrated 
from Chestershire, England, to Watertown, Mas¬ 
sachusetts, in 1636. Abraham Garfield, one of 
the members of this family, was a soldier in the 
battles of Lexington and Concord. Solomon 
Garfield, another of the descendants of Edward 
Garfield, served as a faithful soldier through the 
Revolutionary War, and, after its close moved 
to Otsego county, New York. Solomon was the 
Sfreat-orrandfather of President Garfield. His 

o o 

son, Thomas Garfield, died in the early part of 
the nineteenth century, and left a son, Abram 
Garfield, father of the General and President, to 
fight the battle of life alone. He moved to Ohio, 
when a young man, and was married to Eliza 
Ballou, the mother of the President. 

The maternal ancestry of President Garfield 


41 6 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

was more illustrious than that of his father. His 
mother was born at Richmond, New Hampshire. 
The Ballous were distinguished for their mental 
endowments and moral sensibilities. Many of 
the members of this family were ministers. One 
biographer says of them: “The Ballous were a 
race of preachers. One of them, himself a 
preacher, had four sons who were ministers of 
the gospel, and one of these had three sons, who 
were preachers, and one of these had a son and 
a grandson who were preachers.’’ We know of 
no family of America that has furnished as many 
eminent clergymen. This family were the 
descendants of Maturin Ballou, a French Hugue¬ 
not, who fled from his native land to escape re¬ 
ligious persecution about the year 1685. The 
Rev. Hosea Ballou was the greatest of this fam¬ 
ily. He was the son of a Baptist minister, but 
himself one of the pioneers of Universalism. 
Several more of the Ballous were ministers of 
this faith. Hon. Maturin Ballou, member of 
Congress from Rhode Island is of the same stock. 
It was from the Ballous, Garfield inherited his 
great mental powers, his religious zeal, and his 
abilities as an orator. 

James Abram Garfield was born November 
19th, 1831. He was the youngest of a family of 
four children. In May, 1833, his father was re¬ 
moved from the wilderness of Ohio, by death, 


JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 417 

and left his family in almost destitute circum¬ 
stances. The mother and oldest boy, Thomas, 
after years of a struggle with poverty managed 
to rear the family as best they could and pay for 
their log cabin home. 

James was sent to the poor schools of that 
neighborhood. He was possessed of a retentive 
memory, remarkable powers of observation, a 
keen perception, and an ambitious soul which all 
made his advancement rapid. He was passion¬ 
ately fond of books and read the few he was able 
to obtain with eager delight. His boyhood and 
youth was spent upon his mother’s farm at hard 
manual labor. He worked at the carpenter’s 
trade, and for the neighbors at whatever came 
within the reach and power of his willing hands 
to do. He read some worthless books that gave 
him a great desire to be a seaman. This had 
almost gained sufficient hold upon his young 
mind to cheat the world of a great statesman and 
give nothing but a rough sailor in return. His 
gentlemanly inquiries for a position on a boat in 
Lake Erie met with a harsh response and par¬ 
tially discouraged him. He worked on a canal 
boat with his cousin, captain of the same, got 
into the water fourteen times in three months, 
returned home, took the ague, and by the advice 
of Mr. Bates, a school teacher of that locality, 
and the persuasions of his mother, resolved to 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


418 

give up his desires to be a sailor and endeavor to 
get an education. 

In the spring of 1849, Young Garfield entered 
Geauga Seminary at Chester, Geauga county, 
Ohio. James had but a small sum to defray his 
expenses, but lived in the bounds of rigid econ¬ 
omy for nearly three years. He worked in a 
carpenter shop on Saturdays and evenings, for 
the neighboring farmers during vacation, and 
taught an occasional term of school to provide 
the funds to carry him through. He made 
his first speeches and essays in a literary society. 
The library of one hundred and fifty volumes was 
the largest number of books that young Garfield 
had ever seen. He made constant use of them. 
Here he met Miss Lucretia Rudolph whom he 
afterwards married. James bent his whole 
energy to gain an education. His punctuality 
and thoroughness made him among the foremost 
and did much to frame his character solidly. 

From the academy at Chester, Garfield went, 
in 1851, to the Electic Institute, afterwards Hiram 
College, a school under the control of his own 
church, (Campbellite) and one in which he felt a 
personal interest. Here he remained for three 
years, paying his way by acting as sweeper and 
bell-ringer, and afterwards as associate teacher. 
His advancement was so rapid, he was enabled, 
at the expiration of this time to enter the Junior 
class of an Eastern college. 


JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 419 

He entered Williams College in 1854 and grad¬ 
uated in 1856. To him was accorded the honor 
of having a metaphysical subject, that of “Matter 
and Spirit,” for his graduating oration. His ex¬ 
penses at Williams were defrayed partially by 
teaching penmanship and partly by borrowing 
money. Among his acquaintances here was the 
President of the College, Dr. Plopkins. He was 
popular with both students and teachers. No 
one could help admiring the intellect, industry, 
and character of Garfield. 

Upon his return from Williams College he was 
made a teacher at Hiram, and the next year, 

1857, he was elevated to the Presidency of the 
College which he had entered but six years before 
in almost destitute circumstances. The ideal of 
his youth, — to become a graduate of an Eastern 
College had been accomplished and he now gave 
himself up to his work as an instructor with all 
the energy of his soul. 

Upon his return to Hiram he had found his 
classmate, Miss Rudolph, occupying a position 
as teacher. They were married November 1 ith, 

1858, and went on a trip to the East. The fol¬ 
lowing year he delivered the “Master Oration” 
at Williams College. 

During Garfield’s Presidency of Hiram College 
he studied law so thoroughly, that when he was 
admitted to the bar he was able to practice in 


420 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

any of the courts. He was constant in his zeal 
for religion and for his particular sect. He 
preached considerable, by way of filling vacant 
pulpits, led in prayer meeting, and labored earn¬ 
estly in the Sabbath school. 

Garfield’s opinions were strongly anti-slavery. 
He was outspoken in his opposition to that in¬ 
stitution. While in the East in 1859, he was 
nominated by the Republicans of his district as 
their candidate for State Senator. He was elected 
and assumed this position in the State Legisla¬ 
ture in January, i860. 

When Mr. Lincoln was elected President, and 
the Southern States attempted to leave the 
Union, Garfield was among the first that asserted 
the constitutional power of the national govern¬ 
ment to coerce them. The famous Senatorial 
trio, composed of Garfield, Cox and Monroe, 
controlled the war measures of the Ohio Legis¬ 
lature. 

When President Lincoln, upon the 15th of 
April, 1861, called for 75,000 men to defend the 
capital, Senator Garfield arose in his place 
and moved that Ohio furnish 20,000 men and 
$3,000,000 as her share. 

Garfield was sent by Governor Dennison to 
procure 5,000 stands of arms of General Lyons 
at St. Louis. He procured their shipment, re¬ 
turned to Ohio, and went to Cleveland to assist 


JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 421 

in recruiting the Seventh and Eighth Regiments. 
He was now commissioned as Lieutenant- 
Colonel, and sent to the “Western Reserve” to raise 
what was afterwards known as the Forty-second 
Regiment. The Hiram students dropped their 
books and joined their President in military ser¬ 
vices. This regiment was completed and sent to 
Columbus without a Colonel. Garfield hesitated 
to accept it on account of his inexperience in 
military affairs; but finally, to the great satisfac¬ 
tion of his troops and Governor Dennison, con¬ 
sented to serve, and at once set to work prepar¬ 
ing for this new line of duty. About this time 
he wrote to a friend: “One by one my old plans 
and aims, modes of thought and feeling, are 
found to be inconsistent with present duty, and 
are set aside to give place to the new structure 
of military life. It is not without regret, almost 
tearful at times, that I look upon the ruins. But 
if, as the result of the broken plans and shattered 
individual lives of thousands of American citi¬ 
zens, we can see on the ruins of our national 
errors, a new and enduring fabric arise, based on 
a larger freedom and a higher justice, it will be 
but a small sacrifice indeed. For myself I am 
contented with such a prospect, and regarding 
my life as given to my country, I am only anxious 
to make as much of it as possible before the 
mortgage upon it is foreclosed.” 


422 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

The Forty-second regiment could not get off 
for the South until the middle of September, 
1861, but the troops and their colonel engaged in 
military drill in the meantime. Colonel Garfield 
was invited by General Buell, at Louisville, to 
visit him and consult upon military affairs. 

The Confederate force under Humphrey Mar¬ 
shal was in the Eastern part of Kentucky. Gen¬ 
eral Buell ordered Garfield to that section to 
operate against him. By dexterous movements 
Garfield routed Marshal’s camp without a battle 
and pursued them. On the next day a bloody 
battle took place between the Unionists of that 
section under Colonel Garfield and the vastly 
superior forces of Marshal. This resulted in a 
Union victory. The Hiram students were in the 
hardest of the fight and proved themselves good 
soldiers. They were possessed of the same in¬ 
domitable spirit as their leader. 

Garfield was made a Brigadier-General. He 
spent the winter of 1861—62 in this locality, de¬ 
pending upon supplies to be brought up the Big 
Sandy river, which, a portion of the time, was 
filled with floating ice. Garfield and a man 
named Brown went down the river and brought 
up a steamer laden with supplies for the almost 
suffering army, at a time when the captain said 
it was impossible. Garfield routed a Confederate 
camp on a mountain side by ascending to their 


JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 423 

rear, where it was deemed impossible for men 
to go. These brave exploits, at a time when the 
Union cause had met with reverses, did much to 
encourage General Buell, President Lincoln, and 
the country. 

Garfield was given the command of the Twen¬ 
tieth Brigade, and participated in the battle of 
Shiloh and siege of Corinth. He was* placed upon 
the staff of General Rosecrans, and afterwards 
made its chief. He participated actively in the 
great battles of Eastern Tennessee, including 
those of Chickamauga, Chattanooga and Mis¬ 
sionary Ridge. He was commissioned a Major- 
General for meritorious services and gallantry at 
the battle of Chickamauga. General Rosecrans 
sent Garfield to Washington to report to the war 
department the exact condition of the army of 
East Tennessee. At about the same time he was 
granted a furlough home, having suffered the 
affliction of losing his oldest child. 

In October, 1862, the people of his Congres¬ 
sional district elected him their Representative 
in the Thirty-eighth Congress. He was very 
reluctant to accept this position, but at the urgent 
request of his constituents and President Lincoln, 
did so, and entered upon his duties as a national 
Legislator in December, 1863. Pie did not re¬ 
sign his military position until two days prior to 
taking his seat in the House of Representatives* 


28 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


4 2 4 

Had he remained in the military service until 
the close of the war he Would have probably been 
recognized as one of the greatest of the Federal 
Generals. 

It is upon Garfield’s record in the House of 
Representatives, that his fame will chiefly rest. 
His Congressional career continued incessantly 
in the House of Representatives for seventeen 
years. He was elected by his district for nine 
consecutive terms. The same vim that marked 
his study of other things, also did his study of the 
topics of national legislation, and he soon became 
master of it. He studied commerce, taxation, 
tariff, finance and international law. He bor¬ 
rowed more books from the Congressional Lib¬ 
rary than any other member and always devoted 
himself to whatever was before the House. He 
was a steadfast Republican in politics but not a 
factional leader; he always labored for the general 
good of his party. 

Garfield as a Congressman was a close student 
of all the most important issues of the day. He 
read and studied the themes of financial and 
political economy to a great extent. In a speech 
against the repeal of the “resumption act,” Mr. 
Garfield said: 

“The men of 1862 knew the dangers from sad 
experience in our history; and, like Ulysses, lashed 
themselves to the mast of public credit when 


JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 


4 2 5 * 


they embarked upon the stormy and boisterous 
sea of inflated paper money, that they might not 
be beguiled by the siren song that would be sung 
to them when they were afloat on the wild waves. 

“But the times have changed; new men are on 
deck, men who have forgotten the old pledges, 
and now only twelve years have passed (for as 
late as 1865 this House, with but six dissenting 
votes, resolved again to stand by the old ways 
and bring the country back to sound money), only 
twelve years have passed, and what do we find? 
We find a group of theorists and doctrinaires 
who look upon the wisdom of the fathers as fool¬ 
ishness. We find some who advocate what they 
call ‘absolute money,’ who declare that a piece of 
paper stamped a ‘dollar’ is a dollar; that gold and 
silver are a part of the barbarism of the past, 
which ought to be forever abandoned. We hear 
them declaring that resumption is a delusion and 
a snare; we hear them declaring that the eras of 
prosperity are the eras of paper money. They 
point us to all times of inflation as periods of 
blessing to the people and prosperity to business; 
and they ask us no more to vex their ears with 
any allusion to the old standard — the money of 
the Constitution. Let the wild swarm of finan¬ 
cial literature that has sprung into life within the 
last twelve years, witness how widely and how 
far we have drifted. We have lost our old 


426 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

moorings, and have thrown overboard our old 
compass; we sail by alien stars, looking not for 
the haven, but are afloat on a harborless sea. 

“Suppose you undo the work that Congress 
has attempted — to resume specie payment — 
what will result? You will depreciate the value 
of the greenback. Suppose it falls ten cents on 
the dollar? You will have destroyed ten per 
cent, of the value of every deposit in the savings 
banks, ten per cent, of every life insurance policy 
and fire insurance policy, of every pension to the 
soldier, and of every day’s wages of every 
laborer in the nation. The trouble with our 
greenback dollar is this: It has two distinct func¬ 
tions, one a purchasing power, and the other a 
debt-paying power. As a debt-paying power, it 
is equal to one hundred cents; that is, to pay an 
old debt. A greenback dollar will, by law, dis¬ 
charge one hundred cents of debt. But no law 
can give it purchasing power in the general 
market of the world, unless it represents a known 
standard of coin value. Now, what we want is, 
that these two qualities of our greenback dollar 
shall be made equal — its debt-paying power and 
its general purchasing power. When these are 
equal, the problems of our currency are solved, 
and not until then. Summing it all up in a word; 
the struggle now pending in the House is, on the 
one hand, to make the greenback better, and on 


JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 427 

the other, to make it worse. The resumption 
act is making it better every clay. Repeal that 
act, and you make it indefinitely worse. In the 
name of every man who wants his own when he 
has earned it, I demand that we do not make the 
wages of the poor man to shrivel in his hands 
after he has earned them; but that his money 
shall be made better and better, until the plow- 
holder’s money will be as good as the bond¬ 
holder’s money; until our standard is one, and 
there is no longer one money for the rich and 
another for the poor.” 

Speaking of resumption in 1878, Mr. Garfield 
said: “It is right because the public faith demands 
it; it is as unpatriotic as it is dishonest to attempt 
to prevent it. The highest interests of both labor 
and capital demand it.” 

Mr. Garfield’s first tariff speech in Congress 
was made in 1866. He carefully defined his 
position on the great question of protection, as 
follows: 

“I hold that a properly adjusted competition 
between home and foreign products is the best 
gauge to regulate international trade. Duties 
should be so high that our manufacturers can 
fairly compete with the foreign product, but not 
so high as to enable them to drive out the foreign 
article, enjoy a monopoly of the trade, and regu¬ 
late the price as they please. This is my doctrine 


428 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS; 


of protection. If Congress pursues this line of 
policy, steadily, we shall, year by year, approach 
more nearly to the basis of free trade, because 
we shall be more nearly able to compete with 
other nations on equal terms. I am for a protec¬ 
tion that leads to ultimate free trade. I am for 
that free trade which can only ‘be achieved 
through a reasonable protection.” 

The following extract from a speech of Gen¬ 
eral Garfield’s, urging the importance of the 
census and statistical science will, no doubt, be 
of interest to the reader. 

“The developments of statistics are causing 
history to be re-written. Till recently the his¬ 
torian studied nature in the aggregate, and gave 
us only the story of princes, dynasties, sieges and 
battles. Of the people themselves — the great 
social body, with life, growth, forces, elements, 
etc.,— he told us nothing. Now, statistical in¬ 
quiry leads him into the hovels, homes, work¬ 
shops, mine, fields, prisons, hospitals, and all 
places where human nature displays its weakness 
and strength. In these explorations he discovers 
the seed of national growth and decay, and thus 
becomes the prophet of his generation. 

“Statistical science is indispensable to modern 
statesmanship. In legislation, as in physical 
science, it is beginning to be understood that we 
can control terrestrial forces only by obeying 


JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 429 

their laws. The legislator must formulate in his 
statistics not only the national will, but also those 
great laws of social life revealed by statistics. 
He must study society rather than black-letter 
learning. He must learn the truth that ‘society 
usually prepares the crime, and the criminal is 
only the instrument that completes it;’ that states¬ 
manship consists rather in removing causes than 
in punishing or evading results.” 

When President Lincoln was shot, April 14th, 
1865, Congressman Garfield was in New York 
City. An angry mob was in the streets and 
threatened to attack the New York World. It 
was Garfield who spoke just in time to stay these 
fiery spirits from their lawless work. Ide said: 
“Fellow citizens, clouds and darkness are around 
about Him. Plis pavilion are dark waters and 
thick clouds of the skies. Justice and judgment 
are the habitation of His throne. Mercy and 
truth shall go before His face. Fellow citizens, 
God reigns and the government at Washington 
still lives !” The effect of these few words were 
truly wonderful. Comparative quiet was at once 
restored. One writer present thus describes the 
scene: “The crowd stood riveted to the ground, 
with awe, gazing at the motionless orator and 
thinking of God and the security of the govern¬ 
ment at that hour.” 

When fames G. Blaine went from the House 


43 ° 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


of Representatives to the Senate in 1876, James 
A. Garfield became the acknowledged leader of 
the Republicans of that body and received their 
complimentary votes for Speaker of the House, 
but as the Democrats were in a majority, Sam¬ 
uel J. Randall of Pennsylvania, was chosen. 
Garfield served upon the part of the Republicans 
of the blouse of Representatives, as a member of 
the High Joint Electoral Commission of 1877 
that seated President Hayes. He was one of 
the most constant workers of the House and 
while his party was in the ascendancy often 
served as chairman of the leading committees. 
Garfield became a closer student of political 
science than he had ever been of law or theology. 

Garfield was a steadfast friend of Agriculture 
and Education. There are a multitude of say¬ 
ings whose origin can be traced to his broad, 
fertile mind. 

Upon one occasion he said: “As the govern¬ 
ment lights our coasts for the protection of 
mariners and the benefit of commerce, so it 
should give to the tiller of the soil the lights of 
practical science and experience.” 

It was he that uttered the following almost 
proverbial sentence: “Liberty can be safe only 
when suffrage is illuminated by education.” 

Space will scarcely permit a creditable show¬ 
ing of the quality of the wisdom and oratory that 


JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 431 

his vast number of speeches have given to the 
world. The following may be considered as but 
small flowers plucked from extensive blossoming 
fields: 

“The true literary man is no mere gleaner fol¬ 
lowing in the rear and gathering up the fragments 
of the world’s thoughts; but he goes down deep 
into the heart of humanity, watches its throb- 
bings, analyzes the forces at work there; traces 
out, with prophetic foresight, their tendencies, 
and thus, standing out far beyond his age, holds 
up the picture of what is and is to be.” 

“It is indeed an uninviting task to bubble up 
sentiment and elaborate thought in obedience to 
corporate laws, and not infrequently these chil¬ 
dren of the brain, when paraded before the 
proper authorities, show by their meagre propor¬ 
tions that they have not been nourished by the 
genial warmth of a willing heart.” 

In January, 1880, Garfield was chosen by the 
Republican majority of the Ohio Legislature, to 
be the successor of the Hon. Allen G. Thurman, 
as United States Senator for a term of six years 
beginning March 4th, 1881. 

Garfield went to the Republican National Con¬ 
vention of 1880, at Chicago June 1st, leading the 
Ohio delegation in the interest of John Sherman, 
then Secretary of the Treasury, whose name he 
placed in nomination. Grant, Sherman and 


432 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Blaine possessed relative strength in the conven¬ 
tion to an extent which rendered a nomination of 
either of them impossible. After thirty-five un¬ 
successful ballots the supporters of Sherman and 
Blaine united upon Garfield to defeat Grant. 
Garfield received 399 of the 755 votes cast upon 
the thirty-sixth ballot. Chester A. Arthur, a 
Grant delegate from New York, was nominated 
for Vice-President. The Democratic candidates 
were General Winfield Scott Hancock for Presi¬ 
dent and William H. English of Indiana, for 
Vice-President. This campaign was an animated 
one and resulted in the election of Garfield and 
Arthur. The electoral vote stood as follows: 
Garfield 214, Hancock 155. Garfield’s plurality 
in the popular vote was less than 10,009. Each 
of the candidates carried nineteen states. Those 
declaring for Garfield were: Maine, New Hamp¬ 
shire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and Oregon. 

March 4th, 1881, Garfield was inaugurated 
President of the United States amid demonstra¬ 
tions that were expressive of the high regard 
with which people of all sections of the Union 
looked upon the event. The Cabinet selected 
with James G. Blaine as Secretary of State was 
confirmed without opposition by the Senate. 


James Abram Garfield. 433 

Erelong a fierce political quarrel began be¬ 
tween the President and Senator Conkling which 
grew out of the appointment of Judge Robertson, 
a political enemy of Conkling’s, to the Collector- 
ship of the port of New York. The New York 
Senators, Conkling and Platt, resigned and were 
candidates for re-election. After a bitter struggle 
they were defeated and their vindication by the 
New York Legislature, fell short of their ex¬ 
pectations. 

We now enter upon the worst of all scenes in 
the life of President Garfield. One of which, no 
pen can portray the full horrors. One which 
few nations desire to withstand. That of a 
brutal assassination of their Chief Executive. 
For the second time, the United States is plunged 
into grief by the loss of her President at the 
hands of a miscreant. When the martyred Lin¬ 
coln laid down his life, the scenes of turmoil that 
pervaded the land, the bitter strifes and uproar 
in which a long bloody war had precipitated a 
prosperous nation, might have been argued as a 
partial foundation for such a deed. But now 
there existed no excuse. The war clouds had 
passed. The Nation once so divided against 
itself, had been restored to quiet and prosperity. 
The wings of white robed peace were gently 
hovering over this broad land and all was har¬ 
mony. On the morning of July 2nd, 1881, 


434 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


President Garfield had arranged for a short visit 
to the New England States. His wife was at 
Long Branch, and was to meet him in New York 
city. Secretary of State, Blaine, accompanied 
the President to the depot. Just before the de¬ 
parture of the train Mr. Blaine and the President, 
arm in arm, were passing through the waiting 
room, when a strange, wiry-looking villain 
darted up behind them and fired two shots 
in quick succession at the President. He sank to 
the floor. Physicians were summoned and the 
wounded man conveyed to the White House. 
His wife was summoned and long days of patient 
suffering followed. # The country was shocked; 
sympathy and sorrow prevailed everywhere. 
Early in September he was moved to Long 
Branch, and there he lingered until 10:35 o’clock 
P. M., September 19th, 1881, when he died. No 
words can express the sorrow of the nation at 
the loss of him, one of the noblest and best of 
men. 

The remains of President Garfield were interred 
in Lake View Cemetery, of Cleveland, Ohio, 
where a lovely monument marks his resting place. 
Many tributes of respect have been paid to the 
memory of General and President Garfield by a 
truly grateful nation. It is hoped that this brief 
sketch of Garfield, as well as those of other such 
men, will incite the reader to a desire to study 


JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 


435 


the more comprehensive volumes of those, whose 
lives and efforts have been so justly crowned 
with honors. 

The following are the closing words of Blaine’s 
eulogy on Garfield, delivered in the House of 
Representatives, February 27th, 1882. 

“Great in life, he was surpassingly great in 
death. For no cause, in the very frenzy of wan¬ 
tonness and wickedness, by the red hand of 
murder he was thrust from the full tide of this 
world’s interests, from its hopes, its aspirations, 
its victories, into the visible presence of death— 
and he did not quail. Not alone for the one short 
moment in which, stunned and dazed, he could 
give up life, hardly aware ot its relinquishment, 
but through days of deadly languor, through weeks 
of agony, that was not less agony because silently 
borne, with clear sight and calm courage, he 
looked into his open grave. What blight and 
ruin met his anguished eyes, whose lips may tell 
—what brilliant broken plans, what baffled, high 
ambitions, what sundering of strong, warm, man¬ 
hood’s friendships, what bitter rending of sweet 
household ties! Behind him a proud expectant 
nation, a great host of sustaining friends, a cher¬ 
ished and happy mother, wearing the full, rich 
honors of her early toil and tears; the wife of 
his youth, whose whole life lay in his; the little 
boys not yet emerged from childhood’s days of 


4 3 6 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


frolic; the fair young daughter; the sturdy sons 
just springing into closest companionship, claim¬ 
ing every day and every day rewarding a father’s 
love and care; and in his heart the eager, rejoic¬ 
ing power to meet all demand. Before him, 
desolation and great darkness ! And his soul 
was not shaken. His countrymen were thrilled 
with instant, profound, and universal sympathy. 
Masterful in his mortal weakness, he became the 
center of a nation’s love, enshrined in the prayers 
of the world. But all the love and all the 
sympathy could not share with him his suffering. 
He trod the wine-press alone. With unfaltering 
front he faced death. With unfailing tenderness 
he took leave of life. Above the demoniac hiss 
of the assassin’s bullet he heard the voice of 
God. With simple resignation he bowed to the 
divine decree. 

“As the end drew near his early craving for 
the sea returned. The stately mansion of power 
had been to him the wearisome hospital of pain, 
and he begged to be taken from its prison walls, 
from its oppressive, stifling air, from its homeless¬ 
ness and its hopelessness. Gently, silently, the 
love of a great people bore the pale sufferer'to 
the longed-for healing of the sea, to live or to 
die, as God should will, within sight of its heav¬ 
ing billows, within sound of its manifold voices. 
With wan, fevered face, tenderly lifted to the 


JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 


437 


cooling breeze, he looked out wistfully upon the 
ocean’s changing wonders; on its far sails, whit¬ 
ening in the morning light; on its restless waves, 
rolling shoreward to break and die beneath the 
noonday sun; on the red clouds of evening, arch¬ 
ing low to the horizon; on the serene and shining 
pathway of the stars. Let us think that his dying 
eyes read a mystic meaning which only the rapt 
and parting soul may know. Let us believe that 
in the silence of the receding world he heard the 
great waves breaking on a farther shore, and 
felt already upon his wasted btow the breath of 
an eternal morning.” 



438 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


Chapter XXI. 


CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR. 



SMMf ^ illiam Arthur, father of Chester A. 

Arthur, twenty-first President of the 
* ^ United States, emigrated from Ireland 


to America when but eighteen years of age. 
During life he attained to a high station in his 
profession, that of Baptist minister. He was the 
author of a work upon family names of consid¬ 
erable value. His death occurred October 27th, 
of the year 1875. 

Chester Alan Arthur was born at Fairfield, 
Franklin county, Vermont, October 5th, 1830. 
In this, a then obscure part of New England 
territory, his father had been made pastor of a 
small Baptist church. His salary, like his con¬ 
gregation, was small, and the luxuries of the 
world were almost unknown to his family and 
home. Chester was the eldest of five children,— 
two sons and three daughters. 

Mr. Arthur is the only one of all the many 
illustrious sons of Vermont, who has reached the 
exalted position of the American Presidency. 


CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR. 


439 


His boyhood was spent in that state, and most of 
his education, prior to his entrance into Union 
College at Schenectady, New York, he received 
from her institutions. He became a graduate of 
Union College in 1849, when but nineteen years 
old. A portion of his expenses at college were 
paid by teaching during vacations. After leaving 
college he continued in the work of this profession 
for a short time and served for a season as prin¬ 
cipal of Pownal Academy in his native state. 

During his career as teacher, Mr. Arthur had 
gathered sufficient funds, together with a knowl¬ 
edge of the law, to form a foundation for future 
studies in that profession and entered the office 
of ex-Judge Culver, of New York City. After 
the prescribed course of reading he was admitted 
to the bar in 1852. He was associated for a 
short time with the firm known as Culver, Part- 
sen and Arthur. Upon dissolution of this firm, 
Mr. Arthur entered into a partnership with Henry 
D. Gardner. They travelled for some months 
throughout the West in search of a suitable loca¬ 
tion, but finding none to suit them, returned to 
New York City and opened an office there. 

About this time occurred the celebrated Lemon 
cases which speedily brought Mr. Arthur into 
prominence. Jonathan Lemon and wife, with 
eight slaves, stopped in New York City while on 
their way from Virginia to Texas. The slaves 


29 


440 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


were taken into custody of the law upon a writ 
of Habeas Corpzis. The case was tried before 
Judge Paine, and the slaves declared not fugitives 
and consequently free when they entered the 
state of New York. By order of the Virginia 
Legislature, the case was appealed to the Supreme 
Court of New York, with Charles O’Connor and 
Plenry L. Clinton as counsellors for the slave 
holders. Mr. Arthur and William M. Evarts 
undertook to maintain the rights of the oppressed, 
and fought the case through the Supreme Court 
with success. It was appealed to the Supreme 
Court of the United States where the decisions 
of the lower tribunals were sustained. 

In 1855, Mr. Arthur was associated with 
another case of a similar nature. Miss Jennings, 
a colored lady, and superintendent of a Sunday 
school for the colored people, entered a street 
car and paid her fare. Her presence was ob¬ 
jected to by a white ruffian and the conductor 
being unable to eject her from the car, called a 
policeman who dragged her into the street. Mr. 
Arthur was called upon and in the suit instituted 
against the corporation recovered $500 damages 
for his client. This result caused the street car 
companies of New York City to rescind the order 
discriminating against colored persons, and to 
the formation of the “Colored Legal Rights Asso¬ 
ciation.” 


CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR. 


44 I 


The natural bent of Mr. Arthur’s mind was 
toward politics. In early manhood he was 
an admirer of Henry Clay. This admiration 
no doubt came from the associations of his native 
state, which has ever been loyal to the Federal, 
Whig and Republican parties. Mr. Arthur was 
a member of the first Republican State Conven¬ 
tion of New York, which assembled a’t Saratoga. 
He adhered firmly to the idea upon which that 
party was based, that of opposition to the exten¬ 
sion of slavery, and has continued to act with it 
ever since its foundation. 

Mr. Arthur served for a time as Judge Advo¬ 
cate of the Second Brigade of the New York 
militia. In i860 he was made the chief engineer 
of the Governor’s staff, and was afterwards ap¬ 
pointed Quartermaster General of that state. In 
the discharge of the duties of this position he 
evinced much business ability. The assets of this 
office amounted to millions of dollars annually. 
These were audited at Washington without de¬ 
duction, which is a rare occurrence in such 
business. The accuracy of his accounts proved 
him to be scrupulously honest. In 1862 he was 
allowed to meet in convention with the loyal 
Governors. This was a fitting recognition of his 
experience and ability in transacting business for 
the army. 

After the close of the war Mr. Arthur returned 


442 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


to the practice of law. His business, at this time, 
was mainly the collection of claims against the 
government. 

In 1871, Mr. Arthur was appointed collector 
of customs at the port of New York by President 
Grant. His conduct in this position was much 
approved and at the end of the term he was ap¬ 
pointed for another four years. 

During President Hayes’ administration, when 
he undertook to carry out a certain policy of 
Civil Service Reform,—the removal of profes¬ 
sional politicians from federal offices, Mr. 
Arthur came in his way, and was removed in 
1878. Arthur was a close student of New York 
politics. His thorough acquaintance with the 
state and his natural ability made him an excel¬ 
lent political manager. 

Mr. Arthur was sent as a delegate from New 
York to the National Republican Convention of 
1880. In this work he was associated with 
Roscoe Conkling, his warm personal and political 
friend, and supported General Grant. Grant was 
defeated by the nomination of James A. Garfield, 
and, as a recognition of the strength of the Grant 
element, Mr. Arthur was nominated for the 
Vice-Presidency. Mr. Arthur received 214 
electoral votes against 155 for his Democratic 
opponent, Hon. William H. English, of Indiana, 
and was inaugurated Vice-President, March 
4th, 1881. 


CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR. 443 

Arthur’s administration as Vice-President was 
a brief one. He presided in the Senate during 
one session, the one called by President Garfield in 
March, 1881, for the confirmation of Cabinet 
officers and other important officials. In the 
political quarrel between President Garfield and 
Senator Conkling, regarding the Collectorship of 
the New York Custom House, Mr. Arthur sym¬ 
pathized with the cause of the latter. 

After the tragic assassination and death of 
President Garfield, Secretary of State, Blaine, at 
once officially notified Vice-President Arthur to 
take the oath of office and assume the duties of 
President of the United States. The oath of 
office was administered to President Arthur at 
his private residence in New York City at three 
o’clock on the morning of September 20th, 1881. 
The Cabinet of his illustrious predecessor was 
retained for a short time when he made other 
appointments to the several offices as follows: 
Secretary of State, Frederick T. Frelinghuysen 
of New Jersey; Secretary of the Treasury, 
Charles J. Folger of New York; Secretary of 
War, Robert T. Lincoln of Illinois; Secretary of 
Navy, William E. Chandler of New Hampshire; 
Secretary of the Interior, Henry M. Teller of 
Colorado; Postmaster General, Timothy O. Howe 
of Wisconsin; Attorney General, Benjamin H. 
Brewster of Pennsylvania. 


444 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


The year 1882 was one of immense floods. 
The districts along the Lower Mississippi were 
the scenes of vast destruction to farm property 
and over 100,000 persons were rendered home¬ 
less. 

In the summer of 1882 Congress passed a 
River and Harbor Bill which provided for the ex¬ 
pending of enormous sums of public moneyTipon 
unimportant rivers and harbors. This injudicious 
arrangement was vetoed by President Arthur, 
and his action was commended by the people. 
Congress, however, passed the bill over the veto 
of the President, and the appropriations were 
made. 

On May 24th, 1883, the famous Suspension 
Bridge connecting Brooklyn and New York and 
under process of construction for many years 
was formally opened to travel. 

A law providing for the reduction of letter 
postage from three to two cents went into effect 
upon October 1st, 1883. 

The leading political questions of Arthur’s 
administration were that of the Tariff and Civil 
Service Reform . A bill passed Congress regu¬ 
lating the Civil Service and became a law when 
signed by the President in January of 1883. In 
his annual message to Congress in December, 
1883, President Arthur recommended a twenty 
per cent, reduction of the Tariff. 


CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR. 445 

In 1884, President Arthur was a candidate for 
nomination to the Presidency, but was defeated 
by James G. Blaine. Arthur received 278 votes 
on the first ballot. 

During the winter of 1884-85 occurred the 
World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Expo¬ 
sition at New Orleans. Vast displays from va¬ 
rious nations of the World and immense exhibits 
from the several States of the Union were shown. 
The old “Liberty Bell ” was transported to the 
scene by special train. Viewing this Exposition 
from a financial standpoint it was no great suc¬ 
cess. 

On February 21st, 1885, the Washington 
Monument was dedicated. President Arthur 
delivered a short address upon this occasion. 
This structure is located at the Nation’s capital 
and rises to the height of 555 feet. 

At the close of his very successful administra¬ 
tion as President, Mr. Arthur retired to private 
life. His official reign as Chief Executive had 
been characterized by the exercise of a wise and 
conservative policy, and on March 4th, 1885, he 
vacated the White House for his successor, 
Grover Cleveland. 

Mr. Arthur was married in 1853 to Miss Ella 
L. Herndon, daughter of Lieutenant Herndon of 
the United States Navy. Lieutenant Herndon 
was a brave and distinguished officer. He faced 


446 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

death with an unfaltering front on deck the Cen¬ 
tral America in 1857. His ship was sinking, and, 
instead of abandoning his passengers, boldly per¬ 
ished with them. Congress ordered a medal 
struck in honor of him and passed appropriate 
resolutions of respect. Mrs. Arthur, an exem¬ 
plary woman and mother of two children — a son 
and a daughter — died January 12th, 1880. 

Mr. Arthur, since his retirement from the 
Presidency, has made New York City his home, 
and lived a quiet life in the great metropolis 
where he is known and respected by all. 



GROVER CLEVELAND. 


447 


Chapter XXII. 


GROVER CLEVELAND. 



N the valley of the Connecticut river, on 
?the 9th clay of February, 1744, Aaron 
Cleveland, the great-grandfather of Pres¬ 
ident Cleveland, was born. lie was a Congre- 
gationalist minister and represented his town in the 
Connecticut Legislature, in which he introduced 
a bill providing for the abolition of slavery. His 
father, Dr. Aaron Cleveland, was an Episcopalian 
minister, and his son, William Cleveland, the 
grandfather of the President, was a silversmith 
of Norwich, Connecticut. Here William Cleve¬ 
land married Margaret Falley. Their second 
son, who became a graduate of Yale College in 
1824, was the father of Grover Cleveland, the 
twenty-second President of the United States. • 
Richard F. Cleveland, the father of the sub¬ 
ject of this sketch started in life as a school¬ 
teacher at Baltimore, Maryland. The savings 
from one year’s salary as teacher enabled him to 
pursue a theological course at Princeton, New 
Jersey. Upon the completion of his studies here 
he was ordained a minister of the Presbyterian 


448 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

church. In 1829 he returned to Baltimore and 
was united in marriage to Miss Anna Neale, with 
whom he had become acquainted during his 
career as teacher. They located for some time 
at Portsmouth, Virginia, and afterwards, seeking 
a broader field of labor moved their family to the 
village of Caldwell, Essex county, New Jersey. 

In an unpretending little Presbyterian parson¬ 
age at Caldwell, New Jersey, on the 18th of 
March, 1837, Stephen Grover Cleveland was 
born. He was the fifth child of these parents, 
two sons and two daughters having been born 
previous to their removal to New Jersey. About the 
year 1840, the Cleveland family moved to Fayette¬ 
ville, a small country village in the state of New 
York. At this place, within a few miles of 
Pompey Hill, the birth-place of Governor Sey¬ 
mour, Grover Cleveland received the first of his 
school education. It appears that at the age of 
fourteen he desired to take an academic course, 
but the limited means of his father prevented 
such desires to be realized, and young Cleveland 
was necessitated to look for a position in which 
he could support himself. This he found in a 
Fayetteville store at the small salary of fifty 
dollars for the first year and promises of an in¬ 
crease to one hundred dollars the second year 
were given upon the condition that he proved 
trustworthy. Here his reputation for honesty 
and efficiency was well sustained. 


GROVER CLEVELAND. 


449 


The removal of Cleveland’s parents to Clinton 
gave him a much wished-for opportunity to at¬ 
tend a high school. In this place he pursued his 
studies industriously and without interruption 
until his family moved up the Black river to a 
small village of five hundred souls, then known 
as Holland Patent, and located about fifteeen 
miles north of Utica. Here, after a short time 
Grover’s father suddenly died. 

We next hear of Grover Cleveland leaving the 
rural villages, in which he had ever lived, and 
wending his way to the great city of New York 
to accept a position as assistant teacher in an 
institution for the education of the blind. Here 
he remained for two years and added much to 
his already large store of experience and self- 
discipline. Believing the profession of teaching 
was not the proper business for him, he abandons 
it, and contemplates a trip to Cleveland, Ohio. 
His uncle, Lewis F. Allan, a stock-breeder of 
Buffalo, New York, to whom young Cleveland 
went for advice, employed him at a small salary 
for a time on his stock farm a short dis¬ 
tance from Buffalo. While here he enters the 
law office of Messrs. Rogers, Bowen & Rogers, 
of Buffalo, and by persistency and close applica¬ 
tion to study, traits of character that had hitherto 
developed abundantly, made rapid progress in 
the law and was admitted to the bar in the year 


45 ° 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS* 


Cleveland’s first political office was that of 
Assistant District Attorney for the county of 
Erie, under Mr. C. C. Torrance in 1862. He 
held this position until 1865, the end of his su¬ 
perior’s term of office, when he was nominated 
for District Attorney on the Democratic ticket, 
but was defeated. Five years after this failure, 
in 1870, Mr. Cleveland was elected Sheriff* of 
Erie county and served that office with the same 
honest zeal that characterized his earlier labors 
in life. 

In November, 1881, the people of Buffalo 
sought a man for their Mayor that would admin¬ 
ister the people’s affairs with the honesty and dis¬ 
cretion so necessary to good government. They 
found that kind of integrity and sagacity in the 
person of Grover Cleveland, and sustained him 
at the polls with their ballots. Cleveland’s ad¬ 
ministration as Mayor of Buffalo was so determin¬ 
edly fair, and his warfare on dishonesty so 
uncompromising, that the wave of popularity 
that gave him the Mayoralty of Buffalo, rolled 
onward until he became an available candidate 
for Governor in 1882 against Charles J. Folger, 
the nominee of the Republican party. Cleveland 
was elected Governor by an overwhelming 
majority, and was suddenly lifted from local into 
national prominence. He received 535,318 votes 
to 342,464 for Folger. His administration as 


GROVER CLEVELAND. 45 I 

Governor of New York has been the subject 
of much comment and created some dissatisfac¬ 
tion, but his resolute opposition to all ring-rule 
and his unwavering courage in the fight for the 
interests of the people while Governor, has led 
the nation to look upon him as a man whose 
stability and sincerity of motives remain un¬ 
questioned. 

Mr. Cleveland while Governor made free use 
ot the veto power. The most important case in 
which he exercised this right was that of the 
Five Cent Fare Bill. 

Cleveland’s election as Governor of New York 
by an unprecedented majority and his very suc¬ 
cessful administration, led the Democratic party 
to select him as their standard-bearer in the 
Presidential campaign of 1884. The National 
Democratic Convention met in Chicago on 
the 8th of July. The prominent names be¬ 
fore it were Grover Cleveland, Thomas F. 
Bayard, Allen G. Thurman, Joseph E. McDonald, 
Samuel J. Randall and John G. Carlisle. On the 
12th, Governor Cleveland, the candidate from 
the Empire State, was nominated on the second 
ballot by a large majority. Thomas A. Hen¬ 
dricks, of Indiana, was unanimously nominated 
for the Vice-Presidency. The Republicans had 
met in National Convention at Chicago in June 
previous and nominated James G. Blaine, of 


452 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 

Maine, for President, and John A. Logan, of 
Illinois, for Vice-President. The candidates ol 
the Prohibition party were John P. St. John, of 
Kansas, and William Daniels, of Maryland. The 
Greenbackers and Anti Monopolists nominated 
General B. F. Butler, of Massachussetts, for 
President, and General A. M. West, ot Missis¬ 
sippi, for Vice-President. In the election that 
followed, Cleveland and Hendricks received 219 
electoral votes, Blaine and Logan, 182. The 
successful candidates carried twenty of the thirty- 
eight states of the Union, viz: Alabama, Arkan¬ 
sas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, 
Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missis¬ 
sippi, Missouri,New Jersey, NewY ork, North Car¬ 
olina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,Virginia, 
and West Virginia. 

Grover Cleveland resigned the Governorship of 
New York in January, and was inaugurated 
twenty-second President of the United States 
upon the 4th day of March, 1885, amid an un¬ 
usual civil and military display, and delivered his 
brief statesman-like inaugural address to a vast 
assemblage of people. The following is an ex¬ 
tract from that document: 

“The genius of our institutions, the needs of 
our poeple in their home life, and the attention 
which is demanded for the settlement and de¬ 
velopment of the resources of our vast territory, 


GROVER CLEVELAND. 


453 


dictate the scrupulous avoidance of any departure 
from that foreign policy, commended by the 
history, the tradition and prosperity of our re¬ 
public. It is the policy of independence, favored 
by our position and defended by our known 
love of justice and by our power. It is the 
policy of peace suitable to our interests. It is 
the policy of neutrality, rejecting any share in 
foreign broils and ambitions upon other conti¬ 
nents, and rebelling their intrusion here. It is 
the policy of Monroe, and Washington, and 
Jefferson—‘Peace, commerce and honest friend¬ 
ship with all nations, entangling alliance with 
none.’ 

a A due regard for the interests and prosperity 
of all the people demand that our finances shall 
be established upon such a sound and sensible 
basis as shall secure the safety and confidence 
of the business interests, and make the wage of 
labor sure and steady, and that our system of 
revenue shall be so adjusted as to relieve the 
people from unnecessary taxation, having a due 
regard to the interests of capital invested and 
workingmen employed in American industries, 
and preventing the accumulation of surplus in 
the Treasury to tempt extravagance and waste. 
Care for the property of the Nation and for 
the needs of future settlers requires that the 
public domain should be protected from pur- 


454 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


loining schemes and unlawful occupation. The 
conscience of the people demands that the Indians 
within our boundaries shall be fairly and honestly 
treated as wards of the government, and their 
education and civilization promoted with a view 
to their ultimate citizenship, and that polygamy 
in the Territories, destructive of the family relation 
and offensive to moral sense of the civilized world, 
shall be repressed. The law should be rigidly 
enforced which prohibits the immigration of a 
servile class to compete with American labor 
with no intention of acquiring citizenship, and 
bringing with them the habits and customs re¬ 
pugnant to our civilization. 

“The people demand reform in the administra¬ 
tion of the government and the application of 
business principles to public affairs. As a means 
to this end, civil service reform should be in good 
faith enforced. Our citizens have the right to 
protection from the incompetency of public em¬ 
ployes who hold their places solely as a reward 
of partisan service, and from the corrupting in¬ 
fluence of those who promise, and the vicious 
methods of those who expect, such rewards; and 
those who worthily seek public employment 
have the right to insist that merit and competency 
shall be recognized, instead of party subserviency 
or the surrender of honest political belief, in the 
administration of a government pledged to do 
equal and exact justice to all men.” 


GROVER CLEVELAND. 


455 


President Cleveland’s Cabinet, with Thomas 
F. Bayard, of Delaware, Secretary of State; 
Daniel F. Manning, of New York, Secretary of 
the Treasury; William C. Endicott, of Massa¬ 
chusetts, Secretary of War; William C. Whitney, 
of New York, Secretary of the Navy; Augustus 
H. Garland, of Arkansas, Attorney General; 
Lucius C. Lamar, of Mississippi, Secretary of 
the Interior; and William F. Vilas, ofWisconsin, 
Postmaster General, was confirmed by the Sen¬ 
ate without opposition. 

One of the first things with which the Admin¬ 
istration had to deal was a revolution in Central 
America that had for its object the consolidation 
of the five Central American Republics. Amer¬ 
ican ships of war were sent to the scene to 
protect the interests of the United States. 

Since the accession of Cleveland to the Presi¬ 
dency the prospects for the suppression of 
Polygamy have brightened. Several convictions 
for that crime have been secured in the courts of 
Utah. 

In July, 1885, President Cleveland issued a 
proclamation ordering the cattle kings, that were 
unlawfully occupying lands reserved for the 
Indians in the Indian Territory, to vacate them 
within forty days. This decided policy was uni¬ 
versally commended. 

Before one year of President Cleveland’s ad- 


45 6 


AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. 


ministration had elapsed, five of the most eminent 
of American citizens passed away. General and 
ex-President U. S. Grant died July 23rd, 1885; 
General George B. McClellan on October 29th, 
1885; Vice-President Thomas A. Hendricks on 
November 25th, 1885; General Winfield S. Han¬ 
cock on February 9th, 1886, and ex-Governor 
Horatio Seymour on February 12th, 1886. 

In January, 1886, Congress passed the Presi¬ 
dential Succession Bill, which provides, in the 
event of the death of both President and Vice- 
President, that the duties of the office of President 
shall devolve upon the various cabinet officers 
according to a specified order. 

In the spring of 1886 occurred an enormous 
railroad strike. This was ordered by the Knights 
of Labor upon the Gould system of railroads and 
resulted in much damage to business interests in 
the states of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Texas. 
A number of lives were lost. 

The question of Civil Service and the Tariff 
are the main topics of agitation of the day, and 
are themes whose destiny depend upon future 
legislation. 


W 53 


THE END. 




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